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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29668554">Rose Untouchable</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/pizsabox/pseuds/pizsabox'>pizsabox</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>RWBY</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Background Bees, Depression, Elite Society, F/F, Fantasy, Ghosts, Magic, Normal Life, Powerful Families, Romance, Weiss Schnee Needs a Hug, What are emotions?, Whiterose, generally uplifting (despite what the tags be saying), jnpr is chillin in the background, mental health, not too complicated, ruby is a lovesick puppy, weiss is confused</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 23:35:15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>24,323</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29668554</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/pizsabox/pseuds/pizsabox</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Ruby Rose, the prophesized great magical warrior who has boundless, infinite energy... has turned invisible.</p>
<p>Or, something along those lines. She's actually unsure of what exactly happened, and has teamed up with the unlikeliest of allies: the cold and calculating heiress to Remnant's most powerful (and shady) organization, Weiss Schnee... who just happens to be the only one who can see her.</p>
<p>Can the two help turn the helpless Ruby back to the way she was? Why is Weiss the only one who can see her? And who is the mysterious woman lurking in the background pulling all the strings?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ruby Rose/Weiss Schnee</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>149</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. The Bane of Our Existence</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ruby Rose was going to die today.</p>
<p>Well, she didn't actually know that for certain. It was more of a gut feeling that ran deep in her soul, gripped her chest and slowly began spreading outwards. It hadn't quite reached her head, but it was snaking around the insides of her legs and wrapping around her arms.</p>
<p>It was like a Boa Constrictor that just wanted Ruby to know it was there, attached to her. Not about to kill or strike... just ominously present.</p>
<p>She shivered and frowned. Her hands held the broom tighter as she tried to ignore it.</p>
<p>She had gotten these "premonitions" before, and they were almost always accurate. Whether it was a glass falling off a table and shattering, or even her sister's fiancée's earth shattering secret being revealed.</p>
<p>
  <em>What's the issue now?</em>
</p>
<p>Her coworkers were chatting amongst the gym, across the room. They were blissfully unaware of Ruby's sudden stint, and she was secretly grateful. While they were a lot calmer and less gung-ho about the "ability" than her sister, Ruby still would rather they didn't know.</p>
<p>Last time, they had sent her home early... why would they even do that?</p>
<p>But maybe she was thinking too hard about it. Maybe her hands were wrapped around the broom too tight, or maybe she was standing in one place for too long while spacing out. Either way, she was caught.</p>
<p>A hand fell on her shoulder.</p>
<p>"It's another feeling, isn't it?" asked her boss and the owner of the gym.</p>
<p>Ruby's shoulders heaved. </p>
<p>"It's nothing."</p>
<p>Pyrrha was unimpressed. She tilted her head and tried to let the emotion in her eyes reach Ruby, but apparently she failed. Ruby jolted back to life and began to sweep the floors, even though there was little debris to be seen.</p>
<p>"Huh? Ruby, you good?"</p>
<p>God, now Jaune was all over her. Can't they just leave her in peace? She loved them to death, but when these feelings came on strongly, she needed to be alone and focus on ignoring it.</p>
<p>"She's just a little ill, is all," Pyrrha waved. "Jaune, can you sanitize the weights?"</p>
<p>His eyes lingered on Ruby, and he hesitantly said, "Yeah, for sure," before dragging himself away.</p>
<p>"Head home. Please?"</p>
<p>If Pyrrha really wanted Ruby home, she would make it an order as her boss. She probably would, too, if Ruby refused.</p>
<p>Ruby tried to open her mouth and convince her boss she was fine, but Pyrrha's face was stony and concerned. Hell hath no fury like a Pyrrha worried for her friends, and so Ruby gave in.</p>
<p>"I'm sorry," Ruby mumbled.</p>
<p>Pyrrha shook her head and patted the younger girl's back, shoving her off towards the door. Before Ruby could fully exit the gym, she heard a whisper, "Let me know about the impending doom!"</p>
<p>"Nora!" Pyrrha yelled. That was all the commotion Ruby heard before the door shut and she was left to walk home in the middle of her shift, at 6:00.</p>
<p>Magic was a big deal to the people of Remnant, with most people having the ability to wield the Gods' gifts with ease. They used it for all kinds of things, like hunting, fighting off crime, and even basic things like cooking and construction. It was everywhere, and every so often there was a human with extra magical power inside of them, and it was seen as a miracle.</p>
<p>People were so, so reliant upon their magical intuitions to guide them through life and protect them, that they never thought for themselves. They never applied themselves or used critical thinking.</p>
<p><em>"Oh, my magic will tell me if someone will go wrong at the concert, and nothing has happened yet... so we don't need to use extra caution,"</em> is what they all say. It made Ruby frown at the idea that people had become slaves to their magic, dependent on something that wasn't even its own alive entity.</p>
<p>She refused to be such a person.</p>
<p>And yet, here she was, paranoid and alone walking home.</p>
<p>Her sister, Yang, and her sister's fiancée, Blake, were probably home doing God knows what since they figured Ruby wouldn't be home until 10:00. But she would surprise them in about 45 minutes, barf at having interrupted them banging on the kitchen table, and hole herself up in her room.</p>
<p>That was, of course, after Yang gave her shit for not informing of her early arrival.</p>
<p>God, Yang and Blake were insufferably together, never apart and never having a thought that didn't include the other. Ruby was happy for them, sure, but it just cemented the fact that she'd never have something like that.</p>
<p>Everyone she knew was taken. She was surrounded by love entirely, like a tornado that swarmed her yet never quite scooped her in, no matter how quickly she ran towards the edges.</p>
<p>There was Yang and Blake's epic storm, a fiery and passionate love that had its fair share of ups and downs yet never faltered. A boundless love that controlled them to their wit's ends. It made the usually superficial and boisterous Yang Xiao Long soft and controlled, and turned the bookish and insightful Blake Belladonna into a blubbering, desperate fool. It was, as they said, a beautiful force. But as Ruby said, an overpowering and exhausting environment.</p>
<p>Then there was her coworkers Nora and Ren, who in comparison to Yang and Blake's raging fire, was much more settled. They were like a seesaw that was always perfectly balanced. A scale that never even so much as shifted. Always, since the beginning and throughout their entire lives, as still as a building.</p>
<p>Nora was a bundle of energy that was in constant motion. Ren was the one who, like a pendulum, took her energy and absorbed it, being able to send it back in his own way. He tamed the dragon and Nora fueled his own inner desires. They were two peas in a pod, perfect opposites attracting.</p>
<p>Never were they seen apart. They were a single mind, a single pot of energy that was shared amongst them. Madly in love since they were kids.</p>
<p>Ruby did not even have any childhood friends.</p>
<p>Lastly was her boss, Pyrrha, and her other coworker, Jaune. Their situation was more of a piner-and-oblivious dynamic, with Pyrrha's infatuation blatantly obvious. She chased and chased while Jaune kept unknowingly throwing up walls for Pyrrha to break past. Most of her decisions were made surrounding how she would get Jaune to notice her, as if no one else existed.</p>
<p>Did Ruby even matter to these people?</p>
<p>She made it home eventually. She knocked on the door six times before sliding in her key and entering. Her eyes were closed, hoping to save herself from the rated R scene ahead of her—</p>
<p>"Heya, Rubes! You're early!"</p>
<p>Oh.</p>
<p>It was just Yang making dinner and Blake sitting in her reclining chair reading a book. They were as far as they could be, content doing their own thing.</p>
<p>"You okay? Your face is all—" Yang tried attempting Ruby's look, but just ended up looking like she ate the sourest of sour lemons.</p>
<p>"Did you think we were indecent?" Blake piped up, lips tugging up at the corners.</p>
<p>"No." Ruby rolled her eyes. "I was sent home from work early."</p>
<p>"Why?" Yang was now in the living room and leaning against the door frame.</p>
<p>The moment she let slip her feeling, she'd never feel the end of it. Yang was crazy, a helicopter mom that babied Ruby and made her out to be some kind of future-seeing Saint. </p>
<p>"There wasn't much work to do."</p>
<p>"It's a Saturday," Blake said as if that meant anything. "Perfect day for a late night gym session, and there wasn't much work to do?"</p>
<p>Yang hummed and nodded appreciatively.</p>
<p>"Observant as always, Blakey. So, wanna fess up, Rubes?"</p>
<p>Why did they always treat her like a kid? She was twenty-three, she can handle herself. And so, she made herself seem a little taller and puffed her chest slightly. She could never compare to Yang's build or Blake's presence, but she sure could make it seem like she took up more space in the room.</p>
<p>"No, actually, I don't."</p>
<p>Yang narrowed her eyes. Blake's eyes closed as some air slipped out of her nostrils.</p>
<p>"You got a problem or something?"</p>
<p>"I'm just tired."</p>
<p>Yang's gaze steeled Ruby to her spot. If Yang didn't think it was a premonition, she would have thought it was Ruby's depression taking its course and settling in.</p>
<p>Mental illness was a real bitch, and it had haunted Ruby since she watched her mother die in front of her.</p>
<p>"Okay," Yang finally breathed. "Have a good night."</p>
<p>"Night Yang." Ruby headed for her room. "Night Blake," she nodded, receiving a nod in return from the cat faunus.</p>
<p>Blake was like Ruby's more sensible, less overbearing yet know-it-all kind of big sister. She tended to stay in the shadows and watch, but was incredibly insightful when it came to magic.</p>
<p>
  <em>"I know Yang tends to be overkill when it comes to you being so full of magic, but you need to understand, Ruby, that she's right. You are full of it," Blake had said once while Yang was off on some late night shift in her car shop.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"I know."</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"It's a good thing, you know. I..." Blake hesitated. Her eyes darted to a couple places in the room before she felt Ruby's hands settle in her own for comfort. "...I wish I had that kind of power."</em>
</p>
<p>Ruby remembered feeling horrible, since faunus were unable to wield magic. This fact was made even more acrid upon knowing of Blake's past, wherein an abusive ex had turned his spite for being born with such an unfair advantage into something murderous. </p>
<p>Blake swore never to become corrupted by it, and so she had found it to be her duty to teach Ruby how to fully harness it. Because, as Blake said, some people never get the chance.</p>
<p>As she lay in her bed that night, she was finally able to quell the feeling. Clearly it must be something nonvital, considering she was alive to go to sleep.</p>
<p>And so, she brushed it off, and allowed herself the peace of unconsciousness.</p>
<p>--------------------------</p>
<p>The girl's hand clenched into a fist. She brought it backwards, strengthening the power of her spell, feeling the man's aura drain and enter her own aura stream.</p>
<p>His throat was closing, and his hands feverously clawed to his neck as he attempted (albeit unsuccessfully) to free himself from the magical bond.</p>
<p>"And you thought that swindling the lower ranks would get you what, exactly?" an authoritative voice boomed.</p>
<p>The room, which was pitch black and built for acoustics, harbored exactly three individuals in it. The powerful man's voice came from a dark corner where he was hidden, and his daughter was out in the light while she inflicted pain on the traitor.</p>
<p>"I... I don't..." the trapped man gurgled.</p>
<p>The girl released her fist ever so slightly, if only to allow the man more throat space to properly articulate his words. However, the man in the corner was suddenly behind her, placing his hands on her shoulders, dangerously close to her own neck in a sort of threatening display.</p>
<p>And so, like the doting daughter she was, went back to using her glyphs to a higher potential.</p>
<p>"Speak clearly, you blubbering fool. Alas, you figured you were quite smart to start taking advantage of Schnee Dust Company receptionists, didn't you? Pray tell, where is that intelligence now?"</p>
<p>The man's head began shaking. The girl's face was stoic and unmoving. Was she supposed to feel something? She reckoned that she did, but all of it was overshadowed by some other feeling she was yet to name.</p>
<p>"Release him."</p>
<p>She did.</p>
<p>The previously trapped man fell to the floor, grasping at whatever he could to regain himself. He was humiliated.</p>
<p>"I own you," the powerful man said. "You are a rat, a dog, a speck of dust that has been taken care of. You know nothing, you are nothing. You attempted some sort of damaging prospect and failed miserably. You were defeated by my own hand. Do you realize this?"</p>
<p>The man may or may not have heard the words, for he was nearly writhing.</p>
<p>"Weiss, love, send for a janitor to take care of this mess."</p>
<p>She was out of the room in seconds.</p>
<p>She was marching down every hall with a purposeful stride, making her way towards the office where she could summon a family cleaner to fix up the room and deal with the man on the floor.</p>
<p>A sigh escaped her. Her magic was great. After all, she was a Schnee, one of the most powerful magical families to ever roam Remnant, and so what else was she to do than use it the way she was born to? </p>
<p>The Schnee Dust Company had a monopoly on harvested magic, which made them targets of swindlers and liars, bad dealers and murderers... it was Weiss Schnee's duty to purge them and protect her family legacy, was it not?</p>
<p>That was what she'd been conditioned to believe, anyway.</p>
<p>Still, it felt odd. Not unpleasant, yet not relieving either. If it were truly her duty, would she not feel a sense of pride? Where was the joyful justice in swiftly defeating those who sought to hurt her?</p>
<p>She called the janitor, who was attentive and gone in a matter of minutes. She wondered if the janitor would puke at the sight, or if he, too, was immune.</p>
<p>In the end, Weiss supposed she was just born to be crueler than those who were out to get her. She was fated to be an executioner, to carry out her father's will with the magic that he did not possess.</p>
<p>For now, she was content with that. It made her feel empty, sure, like less of a person, but it was all she'd ever done with herself. There was nothing left for her.</p>
<p>She made her way back to her own room and cleaned herself. Using such magic was a tiring feat, more so than when she just used it to make light shows in her room.</p>
<p>Although, she hadn't had fun like that in a while. The last time her father had caught her messing around with useless, fun magic she had been in for a real painful surprise. <em>It was pointless</em>, he had said. <em>You should be studying. You should be fencing. Dancing. Painting. Writing. Singing. Working with your tutors. Taking your business courses...</em></p>
<p>
  <em>...and instead you are here, throwing random light magic garbage around your room.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Have you no shame?</em>
</p>
<p>Without the family, she was nothing. Her father was right.</p>
<p>She'd never make light shows again.</p>
<p>As she lowered herself into bed, she wondered—a fleeting thought, that she quickly banished for she was unable to think such things—if there was more for her. If she could serve another purpose. If someone out there thought she was more than a machine.</p>
<p>Huh. Right, like that was possible.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Can I Just Be the One for Once?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This one's a Ruby-centric chap, more set-up and stuff. Next chap will be Weiss, and then we get into the good stuff :D</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The gym was bustling as ever, and Ruby was back into work.</p>
<p>Truth be told, she still harbored the heaviness from yesterday, but the sleep she had that night was more than enough to let her suppress it... at least for the sake of those around her.</p>
<p>Because that was all that Ruby was, wasn't she? A tool for others? Someone to fill a gap in employees, sense when danger was coming, or help pay the bills at her house?</p>
<p>No. God, why did she always get into weird slumps like this?</p>
<p>She slapped her forehead in frustration before hearing her coworker, Nora's, banshee screaming.</p>
<p>"Lift those legs HIGHER! I want to see SWEAT TRAILING DOWN YOUR ENTIRE BODIES!"</p>
<p>"Go at your own pace," her boyfriend, Ren, added after that. "Don't push yourself."</p>
<p>They were teaching a class of children whose parents ushered them into exercising. Ruby had done it once, but she was never able to put her foot down. Plus, the epic social anxiety that came with standing before an entire class of people was enough to steer her clear of it.</p>
<p>So she managed being a receptionist today, and would do odd jobs around the gym later like sanitizing and sweeping.</p>
<p>"Hey."</p>
<p>Ruby was sent out from her thoughts as she eyed the person who stood in front of the desk. </p>
<p>He was tall and had spiky blue hair, and he would have been attractive had he not been donning obnoxious goggles on his forehead. Seriously, what were those even for?</p>
<p>"Hi, welcome to Juniper Gym."</p>
<p>The man smiled as he leaned forward. There was an awkward silence that made Ruby want to either tap the bottoms of her shoes or raze a city. Either one would have been distracting enough.</p>
<p>"...yeah, well, what's up?"</p>
<p>Huh? "O-Oh, haha, not much. Just... you know... sitting behind a desk. Watching my coworkers scream at children. The usual." She added a little laugh which the man probably found charming, but she was just making a pitiful attempt to fill the silence.</p>
<p>"Ah yeah, Nora's wild." He scratched the back of his neck. "I actually already have a membership here, my name is Neptune Vasilias."</p>
<p>Oh. Ruby had never seen him before. Then again, she'd been missing a lot of work ever since her sister and boss demanded she take more days to self care and all that. Maybe he was one in that generation of customers.</p>
<p>She began to search his name, though the system of recording regulars was messed up because they had Pyrrha.</p>
<p>Pyrrha's semblance was being able to sense if someone's magical aura had ever interacted with her before, and from that she could discern if they had a membership or not at the gym. </p>
<p>A seemingly useless semblance worked wonders for her own profession.</p>
<p>Everyone had a semblance, which had something to do with people's magic.  Pyrrha could recognize magic in people, Jaune could transfer magical energy into people who needed a boost, etc. </p>
<p>Yang and Blake had semblances, too. Even though faunus could not wield magic, they could still interact with it with their semblance once it was already in play. That was the power that Blake's ex had used to start a war against the magic wielders and...</p>
<p>Oops. Taboo topic.</p>
<p>"I can't find your name," Ruby said when no one named Neptune was in the system. "Let me call—"</p>
<p>"Oh! A new face!" Pyrrha's voice cheerfully said from across the lobby. She shuffled over and gave Neptune a huge smile. "Hello, I'm Pyrrha Nikos, the owner of this gym." She held out her hand, which Neptune shook dutifully. Although, his posture seemed to have stiffened.</p>
<p>Ruby huffed. So he lied, then?</p>
<p>"Are you looking for a membership?"</p>
<p>"A-Ah, actually, I've been caught..." He had the audacity to look bashful. He turned to Ruby. "I just saw you through the window and thought you were cute."</p>
<p>A fierce blush ravaged Ruby's face as Pyrrha failed to hide her gasp.</p>
<p>She'd never been hit on before! Was this a sign? Was fate finally smiling down upon her? No, it couldn't be. Ruby wasn't attracted to... men...</p>
<p>But maybe she was? She'd never actually been involved with any gender, for that matter. </p>
<p>"Ruby is actually—"</p>
<p>"—totally available!" Ruby interrupted Pyrrha joyfully. She shot finger guns at Neptune as her mood lifted. "Haha, so, do you want my number or something? I'd totally like to, uh, chill out and all that."</p>
<p>Pyrrha gave Ruby the side eye. She had wanted to defend Ruby from this man who was obviously not serious about relationships, considering the group of girls outside who were pointing and giving lovey-dovey eyes.</p>
<p>Neptune winked, suddenly gaining all of his confidence back as if he was never shamed. He pulled out a slip of paper from his breast pocket and slid it towards Ruby to write her numbers down.</p>
<p>Pyrrha looked uncomfortable. <em>He may as well just have business cards with his contact information on it</em>, she thought.</p>
<p>But Ruby didn't put that much thought into it. She was just happy to be given attention from someone who wasn't putting her in second place.</p>
<p>She scribbled the ten digits and sent it back to Neptune, who put it back in his pocket. With a snap and a wink, he said, "Awesome. I'll keep in touch, I'd never pass on someone like you."</p>
<p>Then he was gone.</p>
<p>Maybe Pyrrha was just jealous that she was getting the attention of a guy, while she was still pining after Jaune. Yeah, that must be it, because Neptune was incredibly nice and sweet. Ruby was given a golden opportunity.</p>
<p>"Be careful, Ruby. Plus, didn't you say you weren't attracted to men like that anyway?"</p>
<p>"What even is attraction? You never know who it can be until it just... <em>is</em>. Right?"</p>
<p>"I guess so..."</p>
<p>Pyrrha can be apprehensive all she wants. Ruby was just happy to have put herself out there without totally making herself out to be a fool.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, though, the high didn't last. </p>
<p>She was sulking in the living room five days later because her phone was radio silent, no news or greetings from Neptune. She triple-checked her number and ran the scenario in her head over and over again, making sure she had written the correct digits.</p>
<p>Oh, god, what if they were wrong? What if Neptune thought she did it on purpose? Or... what if he just really wasn't interested?</p>
<p>Ruby groaned and dipped her spoon back into the cream of wheat.</p>
<p>A hand ruffled through her hair. "Aw, Rubes, don't let some male species bring you down. You <em>definitely</em> can do without."</p>
<p>"I concur," Blake added.</p>
<p>"Ah! Maybe you oughtta cast a love spell on him! Here, do it now, I wanna see!"</p>
<p>Blake put her book down. "Yang, the teapot is jumping."</p>
<p>Yang's neck snapped to see the teapot bumping around on the stove as it hissed violently. She ran back to deal with it while Blake eyed Ruby.</p>
<p>"You're really hung up about it, huh?"</p>
<p>"I didn't even like him like that," Ruby mumbled. "He was just nice, and he seemed really interested. So why hasn't he called me?" She should have just taken his number instead.</p>
<p>Blake shrugged. "That just means he's not your soulmate, and isn't worth your time."</p>
<p>"Did someone say SOULMATE?!" Yang burst back into the room and sidled up next to Blake in the recliner which was much too small for two people, but they awkwardly made it work. "Yeah, that douchebag is totally not your soulmate."</p>
<p>"You'll find yours when the time is right," Blake said softly. "And you'll feel a need to keep in touch and reach out, even when they themselves are not present."</p>
<p>Blake and Yang were soulmates, but Ruby had never even come close to feeling what they felt. When you truly connected with your soulmate, your magical energies mixed and warped around each other, but that was only after forging a relationship and understanding one another. It didn't automatically just "click". There was supposed to be some autonomy.</p>
<p>Ruby genuinely felt like she just didn't have one. She was special, right? She had almost infinite magical energy, and if she was unique in that sense she could possibly be unique in the sense that she had no soulmate.</p>
<p>"I can sense your magic now," Blake said. "You know my semblance is sensing magical presences, Ruby, so you know I am not lying when I say that your aura is so strong, that it's impossible for a soulmate not to have been paired with you."</p>
<p>Ruby took her words to thought, but still felt bummed out by rejection. All of the magic stuff took secondary precedence.</p>
<p>"But either way—" Blake shot Yang a glare, "—love spells are illegal anyway. You know, because they go against the whole soulmate idea."</p>
<p>"You know I was kidding," Yang joked. "I was just hoping there could be something to, uh, y'know.... speed along Ruby's love life?"</p>
<p>Ruby snapped to her sister. "What's that supposed to mean?"</p>
<p>"Yang—"</p>
<p>"I just mean she really needs someone. You don't really do much, Rubes, you're always home, doing your own thing. I get that you're probably okay with that, but—"</p>
<p>"I like being alone!" Ruby yelled as she leapt off the couch, bowl of food being sent to the floor.</p>
<p>Yang, who was the one who'd have to clean it up, leapt from her own chair as anger began bubbling in her. Blake was just sitting down, and pressed a hand to her temple to relieve herself of the tension.</p>
<p>"Yeah, I'm sure you enjoy being home 24/7 reading comic books or wasting your life away playing video games and idolizing fake people."</p>
<p>"I-It's none of your business! I can do whatever, I'm grown, I help pay the bills, what I do with myself is my decision and mine alone!"</p>
<p>"Oh yeah?" Yang too on a defensive stance. "I think it is my damn business! It's my damn business that I own this house with my fiancée and you are always in it! We have no privacy, that was the whole point of us buying it, and you just shoehorned your way in."</p>
<p>Blake's eyes bulged. "Yang—"</p>
<p>"No, I'm not done!" Yang began walking towards her sister while the latter held her ground. She wasn't a fourteen-year-old pushover anymore. "You are lonely, Ruby. You're a sulking mess, and the one thing your therapist said was good for you was to go out and make some friends, and have a social life. Which you aren't doing, because you're always home! Which impedes on the time that I want to spend with Blake!"</p>
<p>Blake desperately wished that she was left out of this, or that Yang didn't voice the things she always said in hushed whispers.</p>
<p>Ruby looked shocked as she stumbled back. Her sister had just dropped so many honesty bombs that Ruby was unprepared for.</p>
<p>"If-If you want me to move out then just say so! Just say you want me gone, you don't have to start insulting me like—"</p>
<p>"I want you to move out!" </p>
<p>Silence enveloped them all.</p>
<p>Ruby was stunned into a total frozen state. Yang was still fuming and Blake dared not move from the seat.</p>
<p>Her sister really was self-serving, wasn't she?</p>
<p>And that realization was what caused Ruby's feet to lift and send her flying out the door with amazing speed.</p>
<p>Her heart was simply failing to do its job. It was already strained from its usual observations of everyone around her, but Neptune just dragged it around. And he had passed it onto Yang, who just crushed it with her bare hands.</p>
<p>
  <em>Why can't I just have a break?</em>
</p>
<p>She ran for as long as her body would let her in her exasperated state.</p>
<p>Tears that she was previously holding back began to pour out in droves. She was angry, hurt, and even more so she was so, so lonely.</p>
<p>Her sister wasn't even wrong about her. She did have nothing going for her. She had no one just sat inside fantasizing over people that weren't even real. People often thought Blake was the romantic, but it really was Ruby. She liked seeing people have a comradery that was powerful and unyielding. She wanted a companion.</p>
<p>She found herself in the shopping district, against a brick wall between two towering buildings.</p>
<p>It was the evening, which just seemed to add to Ruby's despair. One trick she'd learned to deal with her crippling sadness that came in waves was to keep it light... and here she was in the dark.</p>
<p>She slid down the wall and hugged her knees. Yang wasn't even at the forefront of her mood right now, she was more just wallowing in her own self pity and desperation. Yang had just  made a lot of the feelings she already felt more prominent.</p>
<p>But now, Ruby just felt more like a burden. She hadn't even thought of how her always being home prevented Yang and Blake from having more... uh... intimate moments. Or just existing with each other without the annoying little sister blasting music in her room.</p>
<p>God, she should just...</p>
<p>A hand landed on her shoulder. </p>
<p>She jolted violently but paused when she just saw the outline of her sister standing above her.</p>
<p>"I am sorry."</p>
<p>Ruby frowned. "It's okay."</p>
<p>"No," Yang sighed, "it's not." She sat down and snuggled closer into Ruby so she could lean her head on her shoulder. "I never should have implied that I didn't want you around, or that you're the reason you're alone." Yang wrapped her arms around her sister and held tight. Ruby just absorbed all of the energy.</p>
<p>"You are everything to me, and I just care so much about you and how you're doing."</p>
<p>Ruby's tears were no longer being generated, but the ones that already fell were drying on her face uncomfortably. She couldn't wipe them off, either, because of the vice grip Yang had on her. So she just focused on the warmth.</p>
<p>"I don't want you to be alone, or dependent on me. Because..."</p>
<p>Yang's hold slackened. Ruby sucked in a breath because she knew exactly where this was going.</p>
<p>"I am not dependable."</p>
<p>"You are!" Ruby defended. </p>
<p>"Whatever, this isn't about me." Yang shook her head as if to clear her thoughts. She released herself from Ruby and looked the latter in her eyes. "I want you to be your own person, have your own self, and do whatever you want to do but be happy with it. And I don't think you are happy now, even if you say holing yourself up in a dark room is good for you."</p>
<p>It's really not, Ruby thought. She knew it, too, but it was just the easiest option.</p>
<p>"Yang?" Ruby called meekly. "Can I tell you something really sensitive?"</p>
<p>Yang nodded silently. She always knew when to take things seriously or when to provide exactly what someone needed. Right now, Ruby needed to express one of her deepest fears and insecurities.</p>
<p>"...I don't think I'll ever find love."</p>
<p>Yang's eyes couldn't have gotten wider. She opened her mouth to rebuke such an obviously false statement, but Ruby lifted her hand.</p>
<p>"Really. I genuinely don't think I have a soulmate, I just feel it. And you know about my 'feelings'. I think I am destined to be alone."</p>
<p>While it was a sad thing to think, Yang saw that Ruby really felt it. And Yang didn't want to argue, lest Ruby thought not having a soulmate was something life-ruining. </p>
<p>And so Yang just held her younger sister closer and provided the love only a big sister could give.</p>
<p>The two of their energies were fatigued from their fight and just being at the end of the day. </p>
<p>"You have me," Yang said. "Let me know if you ever need me there for you, you are always my number one."</p>
<p>And even though Ruby knew she would be number two, she let herself believe Yang for that moment, and succumbed to her embrace.</p>
<p>However, neither of them knew of the mysterious woman lurking nearby who heard every bit of their conversation, and was ready to use the information.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Emotions Can Grant Me Nothing</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Here's the Weiss chapter! </p>
<p>Comments are greatly appreciated, thank you a bunch guys &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Her expensive shoes clicked against the stone cold tile of the manor as she strode to her next appointment.</p>
<p>She had just finished up with her painting coach, who was an old lady with such a stature that you'd probably coo and awe if you saw her in public. But be fooled not, for she had given Weiss enough raps on the wrist to prove she was anything but a kind old sweetheart.</p>
<p>The time was barely 1:00 and she already had finished two classes and was onto two more.</p>
<p>Her schedule was filled to the brim and made for her by her father, who had wanted her to be the most well-rounded individual she would possibly be. </p>
<p>Or at least, whatever he considered to be "well-rounded."</p>
<p>Weiss, if she was able to think freely for a moment, would consider the classes she was forced to take and skills she acquired to be far beyond the typical jack of all trades.</p>
<p>Today's schedule had her attend her business class, then her painting class, and extra long classes of fencing and singing. Her second schedule, which came around on alternating days, taught her magic, social etiquette, piano playing, and dancing.</p>
<p>Yes, the things that Weiss found she had an affinity for at a young age were since drilled into her as a tool to maintain her perfection, and thus, she found no more joy in them.</p>
<p>Not that it mattered.</p>
<p>"Ms. Schnee, are you ready?" the voice of her instructor said. Weiss snapped out of her reverie to see her fencing tutor standing in the doorway. He was as nice as a sword fighting teacher could be, she supposed.</p>
<p>The two settled into their routine after Weiss had thrown on her gear. She moved in perfect rhythm, and though she already surpassed Sir Naran here, there was no way her father would just let her stop.</p>
<p>"You are slowing down."</p>
<p><em>I'm not,</em> Weiss thought. <em>I just can never use my semblance...</em></p>
<p>"I will work harder."</p>
<p>Naran nodded and kept dancing around.</p>
<p>Oh how Weiss wished she could use her semblance and knock Sir Naran off his feet with a smile. Or take her rapier to her father's office and show him how far she's come. Or shatter every god forsaken mirror in the manor that reflected how pitiful she had become.</p>
<p>But even if she was <em>allowed</em> to have those violent outbursts, she would never be able to summon the strength from her magical semblance.</p>
<p>For her unique ability was to be able to gain immense power via positive emotion, which was something Weiss had not experienced in a long, long time.</p>
<p>She sighed. Parry after parry did she reflect on her tutor, and the pace was beginning to grow tiresome.</p>
<p>Naran took advantage of Weiss' lethargy and bent down, swinging his leg underneath her own to send her flying backwards on her butt. A totally illegal move.</p>
<p>"Hey!" she squealed, unladylike. "And what was that?"</p>
<p>"You are not focused."</p>
<p><em>And who gives a damn?</em> Weiss thought. But the thought was so outrageous that she even shocked herself, and submitted to her instructor.</p>
<p>"I want to be faster."</p>
<p>"Perhaps if you unlocked your semblance, you could be."</p>
<p>Weiss wanted to retort back that she <em>had</em> unlocked her semblance, forever ago, and was capable of using it. However she decided to keep it a secret from her father and all of his staff for a simple reason.</p>
<p>Emotions were a sign of weakness. </p>
<p>If Jacques Schnee caught wind that jumping for joy or laughing giddily gave Weiss power, he would simply have her banished. Schnees were stoic and controlling, towering and overpowering. No daughter of the Schnee patriarch would be seen giggling whilst casting magical spells.</p>
<p>"Perhaps."</p>
<p>"We can end early. I will just need to inform Master Ja—"</p>
<p>"We will not be doing any of that," Weiss interrupted. No bruises today, she was not in the mood. "En garde."</p>
<p>Naran's eyes narrowed. "If you insist."</p>
<p>And so their session continued for the two hours, and when 3:00 hit, she bolted out of the room without so much as a 'goodbye.' </p>
<p>Goodbyes were for someone meaningful, weren't they? Why bid someone adieu if you did not truly care about their wellbeing after parting ways?</p>
<p>Weiss' feet were killing her, but the only thing keeping her going was that she only had one more class before she had some kind of free time, though it would probably be spent under her father's tutelage.</p>
<p>Except... her last class was singing.</p>
<p>She had found the wall in the hallway as she leaned, eyes closed. There was too much happening all at once, as there typically was. The house was empty. Where was her brother? Where was her sister? Where was...<em> anybody?</em></p>
<p>Thirty minutes before her next class had her in the library where she usually found solace in a small corner of one of the aisles. </p>
<p>Alas, 'twas not meant to be, for her brother was just putting a book back in that very section.</p>
<p>"Ah, dear sister, and from where are you hailing?"</p>
<p>She contemplated giving him a response at all, but there wasn't much benefit except fleeing satisfaction from being short with her conniving brother. So she settled and said, "Fencing with Sir Naran."</p>
<p>"I cannot understand why father is so interested in having you fence. There are so many more productive things that can be done with your time, like paperwork. Or publicity."</p>
<p>"I refuse to be a figurehead," Weiss sneered as her fists clenched. "Don't you have some boots to lick? Or brownies to eat? Or gold stars to fish for? Or..."</p>
<p>"My, my, aren't you clever," Whitley said through his teeth. "Careful, you may run out of witty quips one of these days."</p>
<p>He released his hand from the book and slid past his sister without touching her, leaving nothing but a waft of air in his wake. "Watch yourself, sister. I have a sort of... <em>sixth sense</em> about when you are going to fail, and I will have to pick up the pieces."</p>
<p>Then he was gone.</p>
<p>Weiss let out a sigh and slumped against the wall. She would have liked to imagine that if it truly came down to it, her brother would have her back, even if just as a sort of family obligation. </p>
<p>But alas, no. He would gladly watch her plummet to her doom if it meant he would rise.</p>
<p>She checked her pocket watch.</p>
<p>
  <em>4:30. Singing class.</em>
</p>
<p>Her singing instructor was a shivering, blubbering fool who took up a great portion of the room. He had once been a talented opera singer and was now a lowly teacher who wasn't even given a second glance.</p>
<p>However, he was sort of nice to Weiss, but that may just be because she had a natural set of amazing, harmonious vocal cords.</p>
<p>But today just wasn't her day, it seemed.</p>
<p>Maybe it was her feet hurting, or maybe it was her run-in with Whitley that got her shaken up, but she felt something rise within her while doing her vocal exercises. Her eyes darted around the room as she stopped. She raised her finger to tell her instructor to give her a minute.</p>
<p>"We can rest, Miss Schnee," he tried to console. "You seem to be..."</p>
<p>"Quiet!" she hissed. "I just need to... gather myself."</p>
<p>She leaned against a table that had a fancy vase sitting on it, but no flowers or anything inside it. Even if there were, they would die in days. The manor was too dark, too cold, too unlively for plant life to flourish.</p>
<p>
  <em>For any life to flourish.</em>
</p>
<p>"Is it your lungs? I know a few ex—"</p>
<p>"No!" Weiss called again. "Leave me be."</p>
<p>"Leave the room?"</p>
<p>
  <em>God, can this fool take a hint?</em>
</p>
<p>"I don't care <em>where you are</em>, as long as you give me some god forsaken space!"</p>
<p>The tutor seemed conflicted. Why he felt so, Weiss hadn't the slightest clue. He should take this as a relief, a break. He was still getting paid so why was he so insistent?</p>
<p>"I think I know what's happening, is it burnout, perhaps? Please, allow me to—"</p>
<p>Weiss' eyes flashed open as a flurry of rage sparked through her. She was a spring coiled tightly, and her nagging tutor had just let her uncoil. </p>
<p>In one fluid motion, she extended upwards and swiped her hand across the table, sending the fancy vase flying across the room and shattering into a million pieces with a resounding crash.</p>
<p>"I said, leave. Me. Alone."</p>
<p>The tutor turned tail and began to head for the door, fear obvious in his expression. Maybe he saw something in Weiss' eyes that scared him, or maybe it was her obvious instability today. Whatever it was, she was truly a Schnee through-and-through with those anger issues.</p>
<p>But before he could reach the door, Weiss called to him.</p>
<p>He paused and turned slowly. Weiss' demeanor had totally changed. She was now hunched over and shaking slightly.</p>
<p>"...please do not inform my father of this."</p>
<p>The tutor shook his head. "Miss Schnee, I am obligated to—"</p>
<p>She straightened herself and walked towards him. "Perhaps I was unclear." </p>
<p>When Weiss was about twenty feet away from him, her hands began to glow as a glyph wrapped around them. Her soul felt heavy as she prepared for what she was about to do—using magic force to get what she wanted.</p>
<p>She pinned the door shut with one hand and bound the tutor to the floor with another.</p>
<p>"So allow me to rephrase." She forced herself to stop trembling from fear of what would happen to her if her father found out about the vase and her random illness. She tightened her magical bounds and watched her tutor sweat. "You will not inform my father."</p>
<p>"M-Miss Schnee—"</p>
<p>Her fist clenched. She stopped herself from going too far with the magic, because of course she didn't really want to hurt anybody, but she knew it was the only way. Violence and force was the only way to bend people to your will, to make them submit to you. If her father had taught her anything it was that.</p>
<p>So she strengthened the force and said, "You will die here if you do."</p>
<p>Sweat beads the size of golf balls were swarming the tutor's face as he began whispering random words. To him, Weiss looked like a monster ready to kill him for his disobedience. But in reality, Weiss had never been more worried.</p>
<p>"I won't," he muttered. "I'll even get Klein, he can clean the mess. I'll report all as fine as usual, I will."</p>
<p>"You know the punishment for liars, and those who break their contracts." Weiss just needed to be absolutely sure this man would not cross her.</p>
<p>"I-I wouldn't dream of it."</p>
<p>She released him from the bound and watched him trip over himself to exit the room.</p>
<p>With a sigh of...not exactly relief, but a release of pressure... she leaned back against the wall and awaited anxiously for Klein to show up. He was the only one she could allow herself to unravel in front of, for he was present for all of her life's greatest achievements and, of course, downfalls.</p>
<p>So when he showed up and saw the mess and Weiss' verge-of-a-breakdown, he knew exactly what to do to cheer her up.</p>
<p>Besides maybe her sister, Weiss didn't have anyone to hold close and break down into. She probably couldn't even do that with Winter, either. Winter would, similarly to Jacques, scold her for being weak. Weakness got them nowhere.</p>
<p>Klein suggested that Weiss enter the Upper Atlas Shopping District to blow off some steam, which she happily agreed to. She never actually bought much (she had most material items she needed) but window shopping was the single most therapeutic thing for her.</p>
<p>So when she found herself in the shopping district looking around and admiring the architecture of nearby parks and buildings, she was immediately semi-put at ease.</p>
<p>She would have been even more calmed down had every shop owner not bolted outside of their business to try and convince Weiss to enter and purchase their items.</p>
<p>"Miss Schnee! A pleasure to see you in the shopping district!"</p>
<p>"Oh my, the Schnee heiress, so close to my store!"</p>
<p>"Won't you try on a few dresses, Miss Schnee?"</p>
<p><em>No, no, and no,</em> Weiss thought. She just needed to browse.</p>
<p>But, of course, she had a sort of public image to maintain (one that wasn't threatening the lives of traitorous business partners and scared tutors). So she entered each of the stores, entertained the owners, tried on clothes and sampled different foods. She did end up buying some, but the real prize for the owners came from all the customers that flocked in afterwards from getting Weiss' approval.</p>
<p>Weiss snorted. No doubt they would put on their website that they were "Schnee-approved."</p>
<p>It made sense, though. They weren't really at fault. If Weiss had gained the favor of a member of their kingdom's most powerful family, she too would brag and boast.</p>
<p>It was just made even better that she put on such a likable front. A picture perfect Schnee, kind to the cameras and a monster behind doors. Exactly what she was bred to be.</p>
<p>Her scroll pinged. Anxiety shot through her as it usually did, but even more so when she saw a message from her father.</p>
<p>
  <em>[Come to my office as soon as possible. I have a new task for you.]</em>
</p>
<p>Huh. That was sort of... polite. That made Weiss believe the news was good, but it did little to quell her anxiety. Everything her father said was a curveball. He was a master game player, a manipulator, a man who enjoyed seeing people tremble with his word games.</p>
<p>Weiss was no exception.</p>
<p>So she steeled herself and crushed any hope that whatever he had to say was benign.</p>
<p>When she got back to the manor, she headed straight for her father's office. She saw her singing tutor out the corner of her eye, sitting at a corner table rummaging through some papers. When he saw her, he rested his head low on the wood and waited for her to pass.</p>
<p>Great. He was scared of her now.</p>
<p>Granted, that was her goal, but that was partly why she hated using magic. Magic was supposed to be a beautiful thing, a thing that used emotions to turn your soul into a physical energy. Weiss only ever channeled her negative emotions (which was all she had) to cast spells, which meant that it never really felt good.</p>
<p>It only felt good when she was performing her light shows in her room. The thing that her father banished her from doing because it was senseless.</p>
<p>Weiss wished she had positive emotions to use magic with. Maybe then it would make her like using it again.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><br/>
Her father's office was not too grand, a stark contrast to his holier-than-thou attitude.</p>
<p>Weiss knocked twice on the door, waited a couple beats, and then entered when she heard her father's deep voice call, "Enter."</p>
<p>As if a peasant approaching the throne, Weiss came forth and masked herself. She stared at her father for a good, long moment before he smirked slightly and leaned back in his chair.</p>
<p>"I have decided to halt your studies, and send you to Vale to oversee one of our Valian mines."</p>
<p>
  <em>What?!</em>
</p>
<p>The surprise must have shown on her face, because Jacques snorted and said, "Don't act so surprised, your business mentor had nothing but stellar marks to say about you. And your other extracurricular mentors adore you like mad. You are able to take some time off and get your hands dirty with some real work, don't you agree?"</p>
<p>"I do."</p>
<p>There was no other correct answer.</p>
<p>"Splendid!" </p>
<p>Jacques swiveled out of the chair and grabbed a few files off of a shelf. He tossed them on the desk and slid them forward, beckoning Weiss to come closer. She did, took a pen, and prepared to sign.</p>
<p>"You are going to be the mine manager. There are multiple supervisors, all listed in this document. It also lists the mining staff, production, operation assets we have, etc. You will take over all of it and do what you can to make it prosper. All methods are open, and all Schnee Dust Company resources will be available to you." Jacques sat back down in his seat and crossed his hands underneath his chin. He watched Weiss look through the papers as she signed the dotted lines.</p>
<p>She was excited. God, was she excited to get out of her house, to get out of Atlas. </p>
<p>She needed to get away from her tutors, from Whitley, from the kiss-up tutors who would betray her at the drop of a hat for some prestige from their boss.  Perhaps the best benefit to being in Vale would be the lack of constant praise. Weiss could be her own person there, she wouldn't be in constant fear of her father's looming presence.</p>
<p>Oh, god, she was so excited.</p>
<p>But she hid that happiness, of course. This was strictly business.</p>
<p>When she finished, Jacques took the folder back and let out a breath.</p>
<p>"Make me proud, daughter."</p>
<p>This mine was her opportunity to let her stay in Vale. </p>
<p>She would stop at nothing to make sure it went perfectly. That mine was as good as the SDC's most profitable asset with her in charge now.</p>
<p>Once she was out of the office, a giddy smile broke out and she was unable to stop it.</p>
<p>
  <em>Look out, Vale. Weiss Schnee is coming.</em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. The Woman in White</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ruby's shift at Juniper gym ended at around noon today, but instead of pestering her sister or Blake for a ride home, she texted them that she was going to stay out until much later and get some errands done.</p>
<p>Blake, of course, was suspicious of exactly what errands Ruby needed to have done, but eventually coerced the information out of her.</p>
<p>Ruby had really taken what Yang said in their fight a bit back to heart, and was looking to give Yang and Blake more space. They did, after all, pay for the house and were on the verge of being married. </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <strong>Ruby: [ I'll be home by 7 :) ] </strong>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <strong>Yang: [ U sure? Watcha gonna do? ] </strong>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <strong>Ruby: [ Go shopping ig, dw about it :P ] </strong>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <strong>Yang: [ Txt me when ur gonna be on ur way home k ] </strong>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <strong>Ruby: [ k ] </strong>
  </em>
</p>
<p>Ruby refused to be the annoying little sibling getting in the way.</p>
<p>So in spite of Yang's hesitance and Blake's assurance, she muted her phone and decided to head into the heart of Vale for some window shopping.</p>
<p>Vale, her home kingdom, was not known for its lavishness or grandeur like Atlas was, but it had its moments. Its main tourist attraction was a giant outdoor mall that could rival Atlas' finer shopping districts, and it was a place Ruby often found herself to look around.</p>
<p>Though she could never afford anything, pretending she was a member of the elite was fun enough.</p>
<p>She, too, enjoyed popping her collar and clomping her shoes as if she owned the pavement. Or waiting for doors to be opened for her because she was too good for them. It was all in good fun, of course, because she'd profusely thank whoever did her the service.</p>
<p>As much as she liked the thought of being rich, she'd rather lay low and do her own thing. She wasn't like the cool superheroes in her comic books who deserved the world to be handed to them.</p>
<p>She was just Ruby Rose, who was painfully average.</p>
<p>She contemplated whether or not she should use magic to speed herself to the shopping district, or wave down a cab.</p>
<p>Ruby's semblance was super speed, she could move so quickly at the cost of magic that it would be difficult to spot her. So she could use that, but magic was sort of icky to her ever since Yang really began drilling home how special she was.</p>
<p>"I don't want to be special," Ruby mumbled, deciding to wave down a cab.</p>
<p>Even now she refused to look more into her heritage, or what exactly silver eyes meant for magic users. She was, supposedly, a magic wielding natural, the best one of anyone ever. Endless power was supposed to be stored inside her, but there was more. Of course, she didn't know what that "more" was referring to.</p>
<p>Nor did she care to find out.</p>
<p>She thanked the driver and headed through the golden gates that may as well have been those to Heaven. They were giant and sparkly, with two guards stationed at the front. They gave Ruby a quick nod as she skipped into the bounds.</p>
<p>Ruby had never been to Atlas, but she imagined it was full of the people here at the Valian Uppercrust Mall. Heads held high, chests puffed out, smirks resting on their faces. People-watching was a favorite pastime of Ruby's, and so she chuckled when she spotted a particularly haughty person and imagined they had been banished from Atlas and were forced to slum it with the rest of the Valians.</p>
<p>Slipping off towards the sides, Ruby headed for one of her favorite shops to check out, a weapons customizer. </p>
<p>The man who owned the place, Sage, was very friendly and good at what he did. Even if he wasn't friendly enough to give Ruby any fun knives for free, he was nice to entertain her when she got in random slumps.</p>
<p>When depression came knocking on her door, knives and guns were what she liked to hold onto.</p>
<p>The shop came into distance, but before she could use some magic to scurry on inside, a flash of white popped into the corner of her vision.</p>
<p>Her body stopped. Her eyes followed the top of the person's head, and as if Ruby lost all voluntary motor function in her legs, she began moving towards it.</p>
<p>People were in her way, but Ruby dodged them skillfully. The person was slowly getting farther and farther away, but all Ruy needed was a glimpse... and a glimpse she got.</p>
<p>A woman, short in stature but tall in presence. She was by herself and carrying a white shoulder bag that glistened (were those <em>diamonds?</em>) in the sunny sky. Her boots reached just below her knees but had pops of red in the cuffs, drawing Ruby's eye to them. She, herself, was wearing her signature black and red boots.</p>
<p>
  <em>I should compliment her shoes. I should see if she likes mine...</em>
</p>
<p>Ruby smiled like a giddy schoolgirl before quickening her pace. She was excited all of a sudden. She wanted to really, really talk to this woman. There was an express urge, a need that was growing by the second.</p>
<p>It almost scared Ruby. Like a drug. If she didn't get it...</p>
<p>She could feel the slump already she would slip into if this curiosity had not been satiated.</p>
<p>The woman was walking briskly as well.</p>
<p>
  <em>She's efficient. I like that. I can be fast too. Maybe she'll like how fast I am.</em>
</p>
<p>Ruby sped up.</p>
<p>She walked right past Sage's store and found herself outside of the Uppercrust Mall, in the outskirts where roads were beginning to form and cars were coming and going periodically. The sun was even in a different spot in the sky, so Ruby either had been following this person for way longer than she thought, or they were way out of bounds from where Uppercrust Mall was. In all likelihoods, it was probably both.</p>
<p>How far had Ruby tailed this girl?</p>
<p>She looked around sharply and saw office buildings lining the street as people began fading in and out of existence. Her eyes were still on the woman.</p>
<p>Just as Ruby was about to open her mouth and, like a desperate child, yell out to the woman, she watched the white-haired stranger slide into a car that was parked on the side of the road without pause.</p>
<p>The car pulled onto the street and sped off.</p>
<p>Without a second thought, Ruby tapped into her magic and used her super speed to keep following it.</p>
<p>At this point, even she knew she was going through... interestingly great lengths... to see this girl. But she couldn't stop, nor did she really want to. What did she have to lose, really? If anything, this was a sign. Ruby didn't have much going for her, so what if the gods were forcing her to feel this way so she'd entertain the woman?</p>
<p>Who was she to defy the gods?</p>
<p>The car stopped after about thirty miles, which was nearly forty minutes of running. Not that Ruby even knew this fact. When the car had finally ceased its motion, she felt like she only ran for a few minutes. To her, no effort was too great to exert for this goal.</p>
<p>She slipped behind a tree and watched the woman exit the vehicle as the car pulled into a parking lot nearby.</p>
<p>
  <em>Where even was she?</em>
</p>
<p>She looked around. There were trees on this side of the street where Ruby was hiding, but across was an open space and what looked like a great mountain in the distance.</p>
<p>
  <em>Wait a minute, I'm at one of the Vale mines!</em>
</p>
<p>Vale made most of its money from its mine exports, and though Ruby herself had never seen a mine nor operated one, this was even more exciting than she had planned. And this woman, of course, was an even greater mystery.</p>
<p>Was she a miner? No, her clothes were too expensive. Her gait was too perfect, and her aura was too strong.</p>
<p>Did she own the mine? No, she was too young. And Ruby was infatuated, and something in her gut told her this woman wasn't so evil as to own a mine that operated under the unethical and evil <em>Schnee Dust Company.</em></p>
<p>This woman must be some sort of outsider, or maybe even an inspector!</p>
<p>Ruby's espionage skills (which were nonexistent) seemed to do the trick anyway. Eventually, when the woman had found a bench and sat down on it, Ruby got a good look at her face from behind a little phone booth.</p>
<p>
  <em>And she is the most gorgeous person I have ever seen...</em>
</p>
<p>Ruby's heart thumped comically. The woman's hair was smooth as snow and tied up in a ponytail that was off-centered and moved slightly with the low winds. Her jacket's collar puffed at the top regally, and Ruby could see more red shining through.</p>
<p>
  <em>We match...</em>
</p>
<p>But what was perhaps the most defining feature were her eyes. The stark, stern, and grilling eyes that were the clearest shade of blue Ruby had ever seen. Though they were looking down at her scroll, Ruby could tell that they had seen so many things, felt so many things. They were a portal into this woman's psyche, and Ruby felt like she could give anything to gaze into them in search of something.</p>
<p>But Ruby frowned when she saw the line draping down the woman's left eye.</p>
<p>
  <em>A scar. A giant, nasty one.</em>
</p>
<p>Whereas some may shy away or pretend it wasn't there, Ruby felt even more in awe. This woman had been through life with her head still held high, and fought something that tried to tear her down and, judging by the woman's powerful presence here, had lost.</p>
<p>Ruby was fascinated.</p>
<p>She was so lost in her thoughts about the life of the white-haired girl that she totally missed when the latter was no longer sitting on the bench.</p>
<p>
  <em>She's gone...</em>
</p>
<p>But Ruby felt it deep in her gut that she'd see her again. There was no way she couldn't.</p>
<p>So with a stupid smile, she left the mine premises and began skipping back in whatever direction home was.</p>
<p>
  <em>I've got to tell Yang! She'll probably tease me about how impressionable or clingy I am, but boy she'll be proud to know I've got a goal in mind.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>And Blake! Blake will know what this feeling is, maybe. She can even help me find the woman again! We were at the mine, and Blake is super involved in the politics around mines and labor...</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Maybe the woman was an activist like Blake? Ah! They can be friends! After she sees my boots and likes my red color scheme, she can match energy with Yang and talk politics with Blake. She really seems like the type...</em>
</p>
<p>As Ruby fantasized about her life after meeting the woman and making her her best friend, she missed that the sun began coming down and was being blocked by taller buildings.</p>
<p>The road was crumbling and crickets were ceasing their chirping. It took tripping and landing on her face for Ruby to finally be snapped out of her stupor.</p>
<p>"Yow!" she squealed. "Ugh..." She looked around. "Where...?"</p>
<p>"Ruby Rose," a voice called.</p>
<p>The hairs on Ruby's neck shot straight up, and Ruby had never jolted to her feet so fast.</p>
<p>The shadows were being cast on a figure, but it was obviously female.</p>
<p>"Out alone? All by yourself? You must be confident in your ability."</p>
<p>"Who are you?" Ruby called, trying to sound sure of herself but just sounded scared.</p>
<p>The figure stepped out of the shadows and allowed the flickering street lamp to cast an ominous glow on her.</p>
<p>Her hair was black as the night, and she donned a red dress with gold detailing on the hem. Her voice was silky smooth, but what unnerved Ruby the most was her smile.</p>
<p>It was the smile that a hunter had before watching a bear fall into it's trap.</p>
<p>"I have actually been watching you for some time."</p>
<p>Her voice sent negative reverberations through Ruby's entire being. Should she just turn tail and run? With her magic, it would be easy, she could easily escape right—</p>
<p>The woman's hands began to glow.</p>
<p>"You don't get to run. Not after I've finally caught you by yourself."</p>
<p>Ruby's eyes widened. Her foot slid back just the tiniest inch before a burst of light came hurling towards her face from the woman. Ruby dodged and flung herself to the side, landing on her stomach with a graceless thud. </p>
<p>The woman snickered. "It's about time I've finally dealt with one of your kind once and for all." The woman came closer and surrounded Ruby in a circle of flames. Symbols and lines etched in the floor, and Ruby found herself unable to get up and flee. </p>
<p>
  <em>Gods! I guess this would've been a good reason to learn more about my magic...!</em>
</p>
<p>"I guess I should thank young Neptune for notifying me that another one of your kind exists here in Vale. I've never run so fast before," she chuckled. The flames grew higher and higher. "And I'll just be one step closer to my number one victory."</p>
<p>Everything was getting brighter and brighter, hotter and hotter from the flames. Fear was enveloping Ruby as the events of her day were being forgotten entirely. She was so scared. Everything was shining too strongly...</p>
<p>Until nothing was shining at all, and everything was void except for the fading laughter of the woman towering over her.</p>
<p>And she had totally forgotten to text Yang.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Oooo we getting into it now, folks. </p>
<p>Also, the store I work at has extended its operating hours, so I'm gonna be working a lot more so while updates may be *slightly* less often (and I mean SLIGHTLY, because darn it I will find any time I can to finish this bad boy) they're still gonna come out pretty swiftly.</p>
<p>And dang nabbit I will bring this thing to completion, mark my words.</p>
<p>Anyway see y'all next time! :D</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. See Me Not</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Roses.</p>
<p>Vinyl decals in the shape of roses stared back at the girl who lay in her bed, head pounding as if it had just gotten bashed in with multiple bowling balls.</p>
<p>The ceiling looked like it was moving away from her as her vision spun.</p>
<p>"Ugh..." she groaned, sitting up and rubbing her head.</p>
<p>She looked around. </p>
<p>Ruby Rose was back in her room, sitting in bed... <em>not</em> happily skipping around in circles while daydreaming of a mysterious woman with silky white hair, a sexy scar running down her left eye, and the posture of an authoritative goddess.</p>
<p>
  <em>Was yesterday a dream?</em>
</p>
<p>While Ruby usually despised people saying such cliché lines after waking up, she fought the urge to believe everything that happened (presumably yesterday) wasn't a figment of her imagination. After all...</p>
<p>
  <em>The woman in white.</em>
</p>
<p>She was dashing and captivated Ruby, mind and soul. Her curiosity was so strong it drove her to trail the woman miles from her original destination, and thus perhaps lead her to the encounter with the crazy lady who knocked her out. But the woman in white was so <em>intriguing</em>, it was wholly possible that she, in fact, was not real.</p>
<p>
  <em>Sure feels like I really got whooped, though.</em>
</p>
<p>Ruby checked out her arms and legs, thinking she'd see the bruises and scrapes that she definitely <em>felt</em>, but saw nothing. She was as clean as the day she was born, even smelling like she had just taken a shower.</p>
<p>But, Gods, she was in so much pain. The only thing she remembered from when she was last conscious was the woman. Had that woman in white kicked the heck out of her, and made her lose her memory?</p>
<p>The thought of getting pummeled by that woman made Ruby pause, and was even finding herself guilty of a quicker heart-rate afterward.</p>
<p>She shook her head. No time to fantasize.</p>
<p>
  <em>How did I end up back here? What day is it? What time is it?</em>
</p>
<p>Ruby figured the only course of action was to ask around. Maybe her sister or Blake could tell her that she came home after work, passed out, and experienced a vivid dream (that Ruby would give anything to live again, even if it meant getting beaten to unconsciousness).</p>
<p>So she slid out of bed and went for her closet to get dressed, only to find that she was already wearing her normal clothes.</p>
<p>She frowned. Such a huge memory lapse surely wouldn't have continued on for this long... Ruby began to feel worried.</p>
<p>Her hand rested on her doorknob before the door had actually swung open with great force from the other side.</p>
<p>"She's still not here!" Yang's voice bellowed, her huge figure filling the doorway.</p>
<p>Ruby stumbled back and watched as Yang barged into the former's room, looking absolutely devastated.</p>
<p>"Well it's only been an hour since you last looked in there, Yang. She won't just appear."</p>
<p>Blake's voice sounded too, and soon Blake herself also came to stand at the room's threshold. Although her voice was smooth, Ruby could hear the worry and fear. Blake, always-calm-and-perfectly-rational Blake, felt out of control.</p>
<p>"I'm fucking worried!"</p>
<p>Ruby shook her head. "Yang... who's not here?"</p>
<p>Ruby's own voice quivered. She was beginning to freak out. She was standing right there, right beside Yang and right in front of Blake. She was <em>here</em>, and yet the two girls hadn't said anything to her. "...Yang! Blake...?"</p>
<p>Yang picked up a small Bowser action figure off of Ruby desk and, in a quick fit of righteous fury, chucked it at the wall and watched it smash into a million pieces.</p>
<p>Gasping, Ruby dashed towards the figure and attempted to pick up the pieces only to find that...</p>
<p>
  <em>...her fingers went right through them.</em>
</p>
<p>She screamed like she'd never screamed before. </p>
<p>Ruby jolted back in shock and swung around to see her sister burying her face in Blake's chest. Her shoulders were heaving, probably crying. And Blake was trying hard to keep her own tears in.</p>
<p>
  <em>Oh my Gods... am I DEAD?</em>
</p>
<p>Ruby charged the two women in the doorway and watched as her hand passed right through them. "No, no, no...! Why!"</p>
<p>Yang pulled away from Blake. "Have the police said anything?"</p>
<p>Blake shook her head. "They haven't even been able to track her phone. And no eye witnesses have seen her around. Pyrrha has been—"</p>
<p>"Agh!" Yang pushed past Blake and pounded a fist into the couch in the living room. Ruby watched helplessly as her sister fought to control herself, but failed miserably. "I don't give a damn about Pyrrha! My little sister left work two days ago and hasn't come back, hasn't contacted anyone! She..." Ruby watched more tears drip from Yang's eyes. "...she didn't come home because of me."</p>
<p>Ruby's eyes widened. She reached out even though she knew her presence wouldn't affect anything.</p>
<p>Why did she always have to make people feel this way? She made her gym friends feel like they needed to baby her and make her feel less lonely. And she made her sister feel like she was a burden imposing on her "Blake time." And now, she was causing the both of them great grief.</p>
<p>"Yang, you know that's not—"</p>
<p>"It is true! I told her she was interrupting our time, and so she told me she was going to do Gods-know-what to stay later and let us hang out. And now, something happened, and she's gone!"</p>
<p>Blake stayed on the threshold and looked down.</p>
<p>Ruby gasped. Two days. She'd been missing, obviously because no one could see her. She was a ghost, of some sort.</p>
<p>She had to figure out what happened. And that started by tracing her steps. </p>
<p>With a newfound determination and goal in mind, she steadied herself and turned away from the sobbing mess that was her older sister, and the bundled ball of anxiety that exuded from Blake. Ruby couldn't handle seeing them like that.</p>
<p>And while they were probably doing all that they could, they wouldn't be able to have a clue of what was going on.</p>
<p>Ruby sighed. She walked out of the house and broke into a dash for Juniper Gym. She was pleasantly surprised to see that she still maintained her epicly fast magical speed semblance, and even felt like she was quicker than before. That, or no magic energy was being drained as she used it.</p>
<p>The delight was replaced with the thick, suffocating realization that the reason she wasn't being drained was probably because she wasn't alive anymore.</p>
<p>
  <em>No! Bad thoughts! I can fix this. I'm still here, I can fix this.</em>
</p>
<p>The determination was, luckily, enough to squander the impending doom that Ruby felt.</p>
<p>When she made it to the gym, she found that the doors were sealed shut and a fat "CLOSED" sign was plastered to the front. Ruby skidded to a halt and pressed her face to the windows.</p>
<p>She saw Pyrrha, Jaune, Nora, and Ren standing in a circle near the far corner, talking about something.</p>
<p>
  <em>Why are they closed? Is it because of me...?</em>
</p>
<p>Ruby's fist flew into the window. Her hand stopped, as if she could actually interact with the object, but no sound came out. Nor did the gang inside the gym react. <em>Wasn't I able to pass through things?</em></p>
<p>Ruby cracked her neck and, with a frown and growing migraine, slipped through the door with her new ghostly ability and found herself right next to her friends.</p>
<p>She waved her hands in front of them. "Pyrrha?" she tried lowly, right in front of her boss.</p>
<p>"—and I've already sent a couple friends to try and find Neptune, who was sort of the last person to interact with her," Pyrrha was saying.</p>
<p>Ruby pushed her hands through Pyrrha's chest and let out a grunt of frustration when she fell through her. She knew it would happen, but lord was it upsetting to be so powerless.</p>
<p>She then turned to see Jaune, who's hand was resting comfortingly on Pyrrha's shoulder, nodding with a fierce look in his eye. </p>
<p>"And you haven't heard back from him? That is strange," he said.</p>
<p>Ruby slapped him in the face but, of course, could not touch him. She did feel a fleeting emotion at seeing him look at Pyrrha so attentively, which made Ruby pause to wonder if they were going to grow closer in her absence...</p>
<p>Ruby's mind went back to her mission. In one fell swoop, she shouted Nora and Ren's names, only to watch them continue on.</p>
<p>"He probably kidnapped her!" Nora bellowed. She crouched down into a position not unlike the one a cat took before pouncing. "I swear, I'll sic all of my kickboxing kiddos on him! They're real demons, I tell you. He'll never see them coming."</p>
<p>Ren pressed himself against Nora's side. "No demons. We just need to know what he knows. You're saying he just disappeared after you saw him get Ruby's number?"</p>
<p>"Yes," Pyrrha replied. </p>
<p>Ruby watched her hand lift and cover Jaune's.</p>
<p>Ruby's own conflicted feelings rang through her stomach. She had been watching them fawn over each other for so long now, and only when she was out of the picture did the ball finally start rolling for them. Was she the problem all along?</p>
<p>She knew that Jaune's little crush on her had been somewhat of a barrier between him and Pyrrha, but now she guessed it really was confirmed.</p>
<p>Ruby took the information that her comrades at the gym said and ran with it, heading down the road towards Uppercrust Mall.</p>
<p>Neptune was apparently a big player in what happened to her, or at least her only lead. He had hit on Ruby then vanished.</p>
<p>For some twisted reason, Ruby felt happy about that. If he was the evil force behind her newfound transparency, it meant he was never interested in the first place, and thus had not ghosted her (no pun intended). So... Ruby never really got rejected!</p>
<p>
  <em>Yay me.</em>
</p>
<p>Uppercrust Mall seemed to appear within view in no time, but before Ruby floated around to the entrance gates, she paused.</p>
<p>The last thing she remembered wasn't actually the mall where she first saw the woman in white, but closer to the Vale mine.</p>
<p>Ruby's head pounded, but she remembered that she was, in fact, very close to the mine before her memories ceased there.</p>
<p>Nothing even happened at the mall that was worth looking around for, right? She had just gone to window shop and was going to check out Sage's weapons store before being distracted by literal beauty incarnate.</p>
<p>Ruby was snapped out of her reverie when a group of giggling teenagers walked right through her, causing coldness to sweep through Ruby's ghostly insides. She shivered and turned, about to say something, but stopped.</p>
<p>
  <em>This will take some getting used to.</em>
</p>
<p>Ruby sighed again. That seemed to be all she could do at the moment. That, and run around Vale playing detective. All she knew was that Neptune disappeared. Some good that would do her.</p>
<p>She zipped through Uppercrust to get towards the end and retrace her steps to hopefully end up back to where the mine was.</p>
<p>Her sense of direction was abysmal, and her directional memory of how to get there was clouded in her mind by the thoughts of the woman Ruby had been following. She didn't even know where she was going at the time. She was totally blinded.</p>
<p>When she finally reached the streets, she found herself losing hope. She could pass into some buildings and look for a map, but she didn't think people used maps anymore. She could listen in on a bunch of people's conversations, but with all the people around, the chances of one conversation being about the mine's location was low.</p>
<p>Then, as if Fate was looking down upon the girl and decided to throw her a bone, Ruby overheard a very specific order.</p>
<p>"Take me to the Vale mine, please."</p>
<p>Ruby turned so fast that if she were in her physical form, she would have caught backlash. A man in a freshly pressed tuxedo was opening the door to a taxi and telling the driver where to go.</p>
<p>And he was going to the mine.</p>
<p>Ruby squealed and jumped up and down before, with supersonic speed, dashing into the taxi and snuggling up beside the tuxedo man. She forced herself to feel the existence of the carseats so that she wouldn't pass through as the vehicle moved.</p>
<p>Ruby could cry. How was it that she was able to randomly pick out this voice? Luck was on her side for that small, fleeting moment... and Ruby could not have been more thankful.</p>
<p>The drive was about forty minutes, but time didn't even feel real anymore.</p>
<p>Ruby sulked and shifted around in her seat, watching the trees as they zipped by. Oh, to be a tree, just standing there. Existing. Did Ruby even exist anymore? She wasn't able to interact with her surroundings. </p>
<p>Or, perhaps, this was just what death felt like.</p>
<p>With all of the theorizing of the afterlife, what if it was just a lonely soul walking the earth?</p>
<p>Ruby snorted—a cruel, bitter thing—and realized that if that were the case, not much really changed.</p>
<p>No. <em>No! I refuse to sit here and do nothing. Everyone was so worried about me...</em></p>
<p>It felt like her emotions were all over the place, and so when the car finally ended up at the mine, she bolted out of the car and took in the fresh air as if it really impacted her health at all.</p>
<p>The man headed for the nearby tollbooth as Ruby slipped behind it, trying to act sneaky. <em>As if I even need to be sneaky...</em></p>
<p>Just as she was about to step into daylight and do her ghostly investigating business, she spotted exactly the person who had been the center of her universe two days ago.</p>
<p>
  <em>The woman in white.</em>
</p>
<p>There she stood, as (short) but as large in presence as ever, in front of the man. Ruby was enthralled, but now more than ever she felt the need to hide and not be seen. She didn't want to be exposed on a subconscious level. She wasn't good enough.</p>
<p>"Pleasure to meet you," the woman said, and Gods if Ruby wasn't whipped already she was now. Her voice wasn't smooth like Ruby would have initially thought such a person's would be. It was pretty shrill, but in the kind of way that makes your heart spike. The words were sharp and knew just how to enter one's ear and stick right in your brain with a powerful resonance.</p>
<p>Or maybe that was just Ruby's gay panic.</p>
<p>"Likewise," the man said, shaking her hand. "It has always been a pleasure to be in operation with the Schnees. Especially the heiress herself."</p>
<p>The woman's eyes crinkled, but that was the last thing Ruby saw before her whole body slackened.</p>
<p>
  <em>The heiress?</em>
</p>
<p>People in Vale weren't too versed with the Schnee Dust Company since they were based in Atlas, but Ruby had to go through all of Blake's political lectures and faunus rights activism for years. Ruby knew about the borderline slave labor and evil, greedy, power-hungry those emotionless people were. Or at least, that was what Blake had said.</p>
<p>
  <em>There was no way. Not her. She's too...</em>
</p>
<p>The woman's eyes met hers. Ruby jumped, her thoughts were a garbled mess because no one was able to see her, it couldn't have been true. She must have just been looking at something behind—</p>
<p>"Please, enter the compound. I will meet up with you shortly in the office, there are people who will assist you."</p>
<p>Ruby dipped and wished she could hear that voice forever. Something was really wrong with her, wasn't there?</p>
<p>The man bowed gently and headed off while the woman's eyes stayed trained in Ruby's direction.</p>
<p>That was what Ruby told herself, when in actuality, the woman was staring right in the former's eyes.</p>
<p>
  <em>There must be something behind me. There must be—</em>
</p>
<p>"And who are you? What does a child like you think you're doing here, hiding behind a booth, eavesdropping on my conversations?"</p>
<p>Ruby was frozen. She took the risk and craned her neck to see if anyone was behind her, because the woman's voice had been so strong and rude, she didn't want it directed at her.</p>
<p>"Don't look around, you <em>imbecile</em>, as if I'm not talking to you!"</p>
<p>The woman stormed forward until she was about three feet away from the wide-eyed Ruby who had way too much on her mind right now.</p>
<p>"You have three seconds before I call security to wipe that idiotic look off your face."</p>
<p>And just like that, Ruby realized that the woman was exactly the opposite of what she had imagined when she first saw her.</p>
<p>And the woman was a Schnee.</p>
<p>But perhaps the most damning piece of information...</p>
<p>Ruby's voice was in awe and surprise, but also a healthy bit of relief and gratefulness despite her conflicting internal monologue, when she let out the small mumble:</p>
<p>"You can see me."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>y'all, work is kicking my ass but fear not, I've GOT YOU. And so do these hopeless lil shits who are gonna take forever to bond properly.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Dead Girl Walking</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>A little bit of a longer chappy cuz I've been busy, hope y'all enjoy! &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Weiss Schnee was always top of her class in everything and at any time, even when she was first thrown into a school. </p>
<p>Solstice was the name of a small, prestigious school for children from the ages of 5 to 9, using new science to unlock parts of their brains during critical developmental periods. Weiss had spent a great majority of her time in this school, with tutors who taught her to master fluency in multiple languages, including ancient magical tongues.</p>
<p>It was because of this that her early years of bonding with her family was stunted, and she never truly formed an emotional attachment to her father. Or mother, for that matter, who was holed up in the garden wishing for better days.</p>
<p>All of the studying had taught Weiss that really, anything was possible. She could learn any language, master any spell, and come out on top every time she put her mind to something. There was never a time where she simply could not fathom something. Magic opened the door for many things, and made anything possible.</p>
<p>This fact was known by all the gifted prodigies of Atlas, so nothing was a shocker. They were geniuses, and Weiss had the pleasure of never having to interact with someone who thought anything less. Never had she faced someone who was so clumsy and wild and...</p>
<p>Except for now, with a 26-year-old Weiss, facing a younger woman who was kind of floating a couple inches off the ground and spouting all kinds of nonsense about ghosts and death and a woman with black hair who looked evil. </p>
<p>Weiss had tuned her out long after the girl had opened her mouth. She was taking the time to survey her appearance, which wasn't all that impressive, but somehow had stapled itself in Weiss' mind.</p>
<p>The woman was only slightly taller than Weiss, with short black hair that turned red at the tips in the most unnatural way (however, somehow, Weiss knew it wasn't dyed). </p>
<p>She wore a black and red dress with a belt with high combat boots and red highlights everywhere. She was as color-coordinated as a ladybug, and for Weiss to be honest, it hurt her eyes a little bit. But that wasn't saying much, since she spent her whole life in pristine, white walls.</p>
<p>"...and now you can see me!" the woman finished. "Oh my gosh, even though you were totally scary and mean, it's still so awesome that you can—"</p>
<p>"Quiet," Weiss hissed. She shiftily looked around and hoped no one could see her. She then narrowed her eyes and got as close to the woman as she could. "Do you think I am some kind of fool?"</p>
<p>"A... fool?"</p>
<p>"A ghost, huh? I've been working with magic my entire life, I am a prodigy, about as good as someone can ever get in their entire lifetime. And never have I seen a ghost before. It's childish, and I have half a mind to dispel you right here for pulling something like this."</p>
<p>Before the self-proclaimed ghost could say anything, another voice had chimed in.</p>
<p>"Miss Schnee?"</p>
<p>Weiss whipped around. She was staring at Mr. Greene, who was at the Vale mine to talk about inspections and business that Weiss had to deal with to start her transformation. He was staring at her oddly, with a sheepish grin on his face as if he was hesitant to speak. "...are you alright?"</p>
<p>Weiss' back straightened. "Perfectly," she said. Then an idea popped into her head. With a small smirk, she pointed a thumb at the woman and said, "Just dealing with this person, who has no business here."</p>
<p>The woman snorted and sighed, slumping down and cocking her head to the side.</p>
<p>Mr. Greene's face scrunched in. "A-Ah, if I may ask... what person?"</p>
<p>Oh.</p>
<p>Weiss turned to the woman who was floating up and had her legs crisscrossed. She was attempting to keep her face neutral but failed miserably as her face split in two, showing off her rows of perfectly white teeth. She shook her head and sang, "Looks like he can't seeeee meeeee."</p>
<p>"You don't see her?" Weiss mumbled.</p>
<p>Mr. Greene frowned. "Maybe today was a bad day for me to arrive, you seem to be having some trouble." He began to head past Weiss and leave through the gate, but Weiss called out to him.</p>
<p>"The paperwork! Today is not a bad time, I assure you, I'm just—"</p>
<p>"Mr. Schnee informed me that you were competent and capable of taking this business seriously, and you were in a stable state of mind. Clearly, he was wrong. I left the paperwork in your mailbox, you don't even need me to sign it." Mr. Greene fiddled with his shirt cuffs. "Good luck turning this mine around."</p>
<p>And then he was gone, but unfortunately, the woman was not.</p>
<p>Weiss stayed planted where she was, staring at the location where the inspector previously was. The woman stayed floating in her sitting down position, not saying a word. </p>
<p>After a silence that was powerful enough to end wars, Weiss turned on her heel and started for her office with a quick stride.</p>
<p>She was made to look like a fool, with this mysterious woman following her around and wreaking havoc. If no one could see her, what else could she do? Was she dangerous? Did anyone know about her? Had she always been a ghost?</p>
<p>Now that Weiss knew about this entity's existence, she felt a new burden on her shoulders. Not only was her first impression with mine officials abysmal, but now she had to deal with—</p>
<p>"This office is insane!" the woman said. "Super big, spacious... but it's pretty boring. All the white kind of hurts my eyes, actually."</p>
<p>
  <em>What a coincidence.</em>
</p>
<p>"Ruby Rose," Weiss spoke, recalling her memory from all the blabbering the woman had done while Weiss was spacing out. She had retained a good portion of the story. Ruby had woken up, gone to work, hung out at the mall, and was ambushed. Then she woke up supposedly two days later and no one could see her. It was a simple story, but there were so many holes that needed to be filled. Who ambushed her? Why? And why could Weiss see her? "Where were you when you were ambushed?"</p>
<p>Ruby, who was still smiling like a loon, leaned against the wall of the office. She looked up as if she was lost in thought.</p>
<p>"I don't remember, actually. Some neighborhood close to this mine, I think."</p>
<p>"You were close to this mine? Why were you here?"</p>
<p>"I uh..." Ruby scratched her head bashfully. "...followed you from Uppercrust."</p>
<p>Weiss bolted from her chair and slammed her hands down on her desk in a flash of fury. "You <em>WHAT?!</em>"</p>
<p>Ruby kicked herself off and held her hands up in defense. "You looked so cool! You are just walking around, and I wanted to talk to you, but you were leaving, and—"</p>
<p>"You followed me the thirty minute drive from Uppercrust Mall to the SDC Vale Mine?"</p>
<p>Ruby looked down. "...well when you put it like that."</p>
<p>Weiss's face darkened suddenly. "What is your goal?"</p>
<p>"Huh?"</p>
<p>"You must want something from me. What is it."</p>
<p>Ruby shook her head. Her smile was gone and she seemed so tired, so sad. "I don't want anything except to, I don't know, not be a ghost anymore. You can see me, so that must mean something!" She floated right in front of Weiss' desk. "I swear I'm not here to, like, possess you or something. Or haunt your family. I'm barely even a ghost! I just..."</p>
<p>Weiss felt the urge to cast a spell and read what was going on in Ruby's mind, because there seemed to be so much swirling around. But she kept her focus on the ghost who had admitted to stalking her a few days ago, and was still here. In Weiss' line of work, and of course her heritage, she could never be too careful.</p>
<p>"If we find out how to undo this curse, you will leave me alone," Weiss decided to say after a while of staring. Truth be told, she was sort of scared about it all.</p>
<p>Nothing was ever really out of her control. She was smart and rich, talented beyond belief in anything. Never was there a problem she could not solve in a matter of minutes, nor a threat that could not be vanquished at the snap of her fingers. Yet here she was, facing a ghost of a woman who seemed too dense and naive to cause her true harm.</p>
<p>Weiss really felt like Ruby was just as confused as the former was.</p>
<p>So she let air puff out of her nose as she sat back down and closed her eyes. She could just tell Ruby to buzz off, but couldn't she just come back? Clearly there was some kind of odd attachment that the ghost had to her if everything happened the way she said it did.</p>
<p>"I am a very busy woman," Weiss said. "I have a lot of work ahead of me with this mine, and have slim to no free time."</p>
<p>Ruby's eyes were steely. Weiss could not, for the life of her, decode what she was feeling. </p>
<p>"...but I can use what little recreation periods I have to assist you in returning back to your normal form."</p>
<p>Now, it was easy. Ruby's smile returned with great size as she jumped up and down, even floating a little bit around the room. </p>
<p>"Ohmygosh thank you!" She leapt forward, presumably to wrap Weiss into some kind of embrace, but her mood dampened when she went right through her. She went back to in front of the desk and landed on the floor with a slouch. "Thank you, so so much."</p>
<p>"You cannot touch anything?"</p>
<p>"Well, I can, sometimes. If I try really hard."</p>
<p>"Well," Weiss picked up the papers on her desk and brushed them to the side. "Do not try and touch me again."</p>
<p>The feeling was disgusting. It was cold and airy, and made Weiss feel like she had no soul. It made her feel empty, like someone could pop her head open and fill her with stuffing. She felt... less human. Even less than she already did.</p>
<p>"I didn't realize!"</p>
<p>"Of course you didn't," the heiress grumbled. "You do not seem to realize anything."</p>
<p>Maybe Ruby didn't hear her, because she seemed just as bubbly as she was when Weiss first agreed.</p>
<p>It made Weiss feel... something. She didn't know what, but she didn't like it. Such pure, unfiltered joy was a sight she had rarely seen, if ever. Even smiles were hard to come by in the Schnee manor. There were only smirks or grins, or teeth that held the promise of betrayal behind them. She was always on her guard and had herself mastered the art of the snake smile.</p>
<p>But Ruby didn't seem to feel any of those things. She was as pure as they came, just simply happy to have someone like Weiss on her side.</p>
<p>Which begged the question...</p>
<p>"Do you know who I am?"</p>
<p>Ruby shrugged. "I know you're Weiss Schnee, heiress to the SDC, and now I know you're in charge of this mine! But that's not really <em>who</em> you are, is it? That's <em>what</em> you are. Guess we'll just have to hang out so I can figure that out!"</p>
<p>"We won't be hanging out. We are not friends. You are merely a business partner at this point in time." Weiss brought Mr. Greene's papers back in front of her to begin work on them. "With that being said, you are dismissed."</p>
<p>-------------------</p>
<p>Ruby was bummed, of course, when Weiss had forced her to leave in spite of Ruby's incessant pleading. Ruby had even pulled out the puppy dog eyes, which it appeared Weiss was immune to.</p>
<p>So there she was, floating back towards her house while sulking at the depression she felt while no longer being near the heiress.</p>
<p>
  <em>So it looks like I'm still whipped, huh?</em>
</p>
<p>Her feelings really hadn't gone away from the first time she had seen the heiress at Uppercrust, and now with Weiss totally agreeing to help Ruby out, Ruby knew there was a heart of gold deep down in there somewhere. I mean, who else would volunteer their rare free time to help someone they just met? Only super cool people, like Weiss.</p>
<p>Ruby was thinking about the small starting bit of information Weiss had given her before Ruby could see that Weiss had a lot of work to do.</p>
<p>
  <em>"Dismissed?!" Ruby groaned. "B-But we haven't done anything yet!"</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"And we won't," Weiss snapped. "This is my first day at the mine, and I have piles of paperwork that need to be done. All offense be taken, you are the least of my priorities right now."</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Ruby was fascinated by the way Weiss and Yang radiated similar energy. Whereas Yang blazed like an inferno, ravaging everything in its path and making everyone's attention draw to her, Weiss was more subtle. She blazed, too, but more like frostbite in the way it's just as deadly but crawls around your body like a spider and hugs you until you give in. It's ever-present and cuts you like a knife. That was Weiss Schnee.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"Do you at least have an idea? Something for me to sleep on?"</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"Do you even need sleep?" </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"Point taken..." Ruby chuckled, "but still! Anything?"</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"You're probably dead," Weiss said frankly. Ruby gasped. She knew it had been a possibility, but hearing it come from the goddess' mouth herself meant it must be closer to the truth. "And I've read enough books to know if you died without it being resolved, we may need to figure out what happened and send you off." </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Ruby could've sworn she heard Weiss mumble something about the afterlife and magical limbos, but she ignored it. Instead, she felt sort of excited to be working with Weiss like that. Obviously Weiss was super smart for thinking that up on the fly.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"Awesome!" Ruby cheered. "So, uh..."</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"No, don't 'so, uh...' me. Get out."</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"Just one more! One more question and I'll be out of your hair (at least for today), Scout's Honor."</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Weiss eyed her with suspicion, probably wondering if the woman was even a scout to bound herself to such a promise, but let it slide. "What is it?"</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"Any ideas as to why you can see me?"</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Weiss looked up from her papers finally and crossed her fingers underneath her chin. She looked at Ruby thoughtfully and then hardened her gaze once more. It was a transformation that sent chills down Ruby's spine each time.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"Don't think it is such an important factor in this mystery," she spat. "It is probably simply because I am a Schnee, a descendant of the legendary heritage of mages and wizards. We are special, after all." Weiss had rolled her eyes after that, something Ruby found cute.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"Of course," Ruby said with a smile. She gave Weiss a quick salute (which Weiss was totally not looking at out of the corner of her eye) and said, "See you tomorrow, Weiss!"</em>
</p>
<p>And so, Ruby left. She was going to head back home to check on Yang and Blake, since it had been a long day and last she saw them they were a wreck. </p>
<p>She felt bad for not having thought about those two in a little bit, her focus being entirely on a certain white-haired someone. Ruby guessed it was because she knew there was nothing she could do, and only something that Weiss could do. Plain and simple, Ruby was totally useless. Plus, with her gone, Yang would just get even more alone time with Blake.</p>
<p>No! Ruby banished the thought from her mind. She loved Yang and Blake, and they loved her too. She shouldn't think so selfishly. Ruby hated herself just a little more after that.</p>
<p>She heard some sobs through the door of her house before entering. She hesitated at the doorknob, but even if she couldn't console the duo, she wanted to be there for them subconsciously.</p>
<p>When she entered, she saw Blake's ears pique a little.</p>
<p>"Blake...?" Ruby tried. Was it possible that...?</p>
<p>But Blake just looked right through her again and went back to coddling Yang, who was hunched over with her face in her hands.</p>
<p>"It's Ruby we're talking about, Yang," Blake said. "She's as quick-witted as they come, even if it doesn't seem like it all the time."</p>
<p>"She's my baby sister," Yang choked. She looked up and Ruby's chest felt tight. "I don't care if she's the world's top notch mage, she's gone missing. What if... what if she chose to leave?"</p>
<p>No! Ruby wanted to yell. She'd never leave Yang like that, she'd...</p>
<p>"Never!" Blake said in Ruby's stead. "You guys argue like sisters are supposed to, but she would never up and leave like that. She hasn't even told Pyrrha or Jaune where she went."</p>
<p>Yang wiped her eyes. Ruby rushed over and focused her energy to be able to touch Yang. She was finally able to, and slung herself on Yang's back. Yang did not appear to react at all, but Ruby still felt like she was helping somewhat.</p>
<p>Ruby noticed a stack of paper on the coffee table with her photo on it. </p>
<p>"We're going to hang these up tomorrow, right?" Yang asked, her voice still wobbly.</p>
<p>"Yes. All over Vale. I'll even post it online if she's somehow made it to Vacuo."</p>
<p>Ruby could tell that the thought of her being in an entirely different kingdom unnerved Yang, but the effort was still there. </p>
<p>Yang stood from the couch and fought to force a hopeful smile on her mouth.</p>
<p>"We're gonna find her, right?"</p>
<p>"We will," Blake added with conviction.</p>
<p>"She's going to be totally okay."</p>
<p>"She is."</p>
<p>Ruby stepped back and watched Yang and Blake hug. They stayed like that for a while, and Ruby slinked herself on the couch. She felt helpless, sure, but things were sort of falling into place.</p>
<p>Yang and Blake were an unstoppable force and an immovable object. They were conqueror's and doers, planners and executors. There was nothing they couldn't do together, lighting each other's flame and keeping the other alive. Nothing ever caught them down for long, and this was no exception. </p>
<p>That was why Ruby was unsurprised to see Yang's wicked smile back on her face when she pulled away from the hug. She knew that Blake was a good tool to figure this out. </p>
<p>While those two had each other always, Ruby too had a secret weapon. Weiss Schnee was on her team, and what was a more show-stopping asset to a team than one of the richest, prettiest, and most powerful people on Remnant?</p>
<p>Yes, things were going to work out just fine.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. The Grape Vine</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ruby was, all things considered, a wreck among wrecks.</p>
<p>Her mind was racing at immeasurable speeds, with so many conflicting emotions. She had a plan, now, and that was a start. But her plan was only two words, which went by the name of <em>Weiss Schnee.</em></p>
<p>The same saving grace that kicked Ruby out of her office and basically flipped her off in the process.</p>
<p>Yes, things were so <em>not</em> fine.</p>
<p>And, of course, there was the fact that Ruby was unable to be seen by everyone except for said white-haired savior. </p>
<p>So was it awkward for her to be floating alongside her sister and sister's fiancée as they plastered missing posters with her face on it all across Vale? Yes. Was it helpful in any way, shape, or form? No. She was simply curious. And, truth be told, a little frightened to return back to Weiss so soon. What should she even say? Clearly Weiss had bigger fish to fry.</p>
<p>Ruby shook her head. For now, she was going to offer subconscious support to her family come heck or high water.</p>
<p>"This isn't really that good of a photo," Yang said while turning the page to look at it from a few other angles. "Her face is too round, and her eyes here are too dull."</p>
<p>"Well, it is hard to capture the shine of true silver eyes on a piece of paper," Blake added. She rested her hand on Yang's shoulder and watched the paper get stapled on a lamp post. "Even so, she looks unique enough."</p>
<p>"Of course she does. She's got the Xiao Long-Rose genes."</p>
<p>Ruby smiled. Her sister seemed to be in a bit of higher spirits, if not just faking hope for everyone's sake. </p>
<p>Ruby did, however, cringe at the photo that they decided to use.</p>
<p>It was one that came from many years ago when Ruby found herself at a mechanics camp in Vacuo. She was a small kid, the youngest in the entire crew, and Yang had gone around to everyone making sure they knew.</p>
<p>
  <em>"That one's mine!" Yang said to another mom, pointing at Ruby. "She's a young one, a real star, she is! Raised her to be top notch. She can disassemble a TV remote and put it back together in three seconds flat."</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"Three seconds?" one of the moms mused. "That seems a little—"</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"Think I'm a liar? Hey, Rubes!"</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Ruby looked up from the table to see her sister waving and bouncing around to get her attention. Ruby shrank back in her seat, embarrassed. All of the kids were staring at her, but Yang never relented.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"...what?" Ruby mumbled. Yang heard nonetheless.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"Cantcha fiddle with a remote in three seconds? Smash it &amp; reattach it and all that?"</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Of course I can, Ruby thought. That was child's play. And she was about to say so out loud before a kid at the table next to her scoffed.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"A remote has a total of, like, four parts. And speed doesn't matter anyway."</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>When Ruby saw Yang's eyes flash, she never wanted to disappear further into her chair more.</em>
</p>
<p>Long story short, Yang had picked a fight with two kids and almost all of the moms, thus getting ejected, and throwing Ruby on the banned list forevermore. Ruby would have been more bummed had the camp not been one of the lowest rated ones around, but Vacuo was closer than Atlas, and a lot less pretentious.</p>
<p>Clearly that may have been untrue.</p>
<p>But the photo had grease on Ruby's chin and a goofy smile that was more bashful and soft than any time before. Ruby was, as socially awkward and quiet as it may seem, pretty easily excitable. At places where she was in her element, nothing could stop her. Which was why she hated this particular photo so much.</p>
<p>She was right where she belonged, but still didn't fit in.</p>
<p>Did she fit anywhere?</p>
<p>A thick, gray fog flushed into her head. She frowned as she followed the two people ahead of her and sighed. Great. She was having another episode again.</p>
<p>"Y'know, Ruby may not be super into magic and everything, but I've seen the books she's got in her room," Yang's voice cut out. "There's some pretty sick encyclopedias. I'd bet she knows enough to cut down on whatever psycho kidnapped her."</p>
<p>Blake scoffed. "She wasn't kidnapped, Yang."</p>
<p>"Says who? Where else could she have gone?"</p>
<p>"Maybe she got lost," the cat faunus said with a shrug. "Maybe she's taking a sabbatical and learning how to unlock her true magic with an old man on a mountain."</p>
<p>"You've been reading too many fantasy novels."</p>
<p>"I haven't been reading enough."</p>
<p>Yang was about to say something when she stopped and rubbed the back of her neck. "Think she's missing us?"</p>
<p>Ruby wanted nothing more than to run ino Yang's arms and be the receiver of a patented Xiao-Long bear hug. So, she did, but it wasn't like Yang could feel it.</p>
<p>That only served to increase the sadness that was slowly dripping into the rest of her being. Her head was heavy, but she held it up anyway. If there was some way that Yang or Blake could absorb her hope, Ruby made sure she had enough of it to go around.</p>
<p>"She absolutely is, I can feel it."</p>
<p>Yang's smile was lopsided when she turned her gaze onto Blake. "You can feel the somber, missing energy?"</p>
<p>"It's unable to be explained, but yes. Her essence still floats around."</p>
<p>"Maybe it's because we're staring at a picture of her."</p>
<p>"Maybe."</p>
<p>Ruby lagged behind the two once again as they headed in the direction of Juniper Gym. Blake, every now and then, would slip her hand on Yang's back and rub small circles, and Yang would lean down and plonk her head onto the other woman's. They'd chuckle for a bit, hang another poster, give a playful shove, and then move on.</p>
<p>They were each other's strength.</p>
<p>Where was Ruby's strength?</p>
<p>Jealousy mixed into the other cesspool of negativity she was currently feeling. <em>Is that all I'm able to feel as a ghost? Sad stuff?</em> Ruby obviously knew nothing about her predicament, but she wouldn't put it past the Gods and whoever monitored curses to hide something so depressing in the Ghost Rulebook.</p>
<p>Ruby looked down at her hands and was in awe at how they sort of glowed in the daylight. She wasn't totally transparent, but light passed through her ever so slightly in a sort of translucency that made her seem like she really was a beam of light. She never wavered, nor flickered from existence. She just, beamed, and it was awfully fun to behold.</p>
<p>Was Weiss able to see the beam too? If so, why wasn't she more freaked out upon first seeing Ruby?</p>
<p>Maybe Weiss had seen her fair share of pale people back in Atlas, where she hailed from. </p>
<p>"Yang! Blake!"</p>
<p>Ruby looked up and saw Pyrrha rushing in for a hug. She watched from the sidelines as they warmly regarded each other and exchanged condolences.</p>
<p>Condolences that had Ruby reeling with some twisty-turny feeling. She wasn't dead!</p>
<p>Or, was she? Was that what Weiss had said back at the Vale mine?</p>
<p>No, because dead was dead. Weiss must've missed the mark somewhere... even if she was a magic prodigy, and would know a million more things than Ruby herself.</p>
<p>"We've been in contact with associates in Vacuo and Mistral, local intelligence agencies and unions that put her on a list of people to check out for if they register for anything in the kingdoms," Pyrrha said. "We know a couple people in Atlas, too, but it's sort of unlikely she'd be there."</p>
<p>"We'll try it anyway," Yang butt in. "I've got a couple contacts as well, if you'll want to get through to them." Yang pulled out her scroll and flashed a few numbers to Pyrrha's.</p>
<p>Ruby recognized the two as Neon Katt and Flynt Coal, duo private detectives that work directly under General Ironwood as Mantle Beautification Officers. They were a cool bunch of people, but Ruby never clicked with them. Neon was too loud and self-absorbed, while Flynt never even made eye contact with Ruby when they ere hanging out with Yang a while ago.</p>
<p>No one ever really regarded her, anyway.</p>
<p>"If she's in Mistral, we can probably buy information!" Nora jumped in. Her smile was infectious, that even Ren sported a similar one. "Mistral's full of gangs and bandits, they know everything about everyone. Ren and I are planning on taking a little trip and doing reconnaissance ourselves."</p>
<p>"Really?" Blake seemed surprised. "You don't need to go through all the trouble, Yang and I can—"</p>
<p>"Ruby is our friend," Ren said. "We will go to Mistral and see what we can find. We have business there, anyway."</p>
<p>Ruby's heart warmed at the thought of being so important to her friends, but when Ren mentioned business they already had, it all went away. </p>
<p>Just once did she wish for priority. She didn't have priority for a single one of her relationships, and just recently, she was explicitly told so by the one ticket she had to return back to her normal body.</p>
<p>Things had suddenly gotten so, so boring. </p>
<p>She had planned on spending all day hanging around her big sis and Blake, putting up posters and laughing at jokes whenever they decided to stop for a lunch break. Or, maybe even tagging along if they went to Mistral on a man hunt! That would've been fun.</p>
<p>Should she follow Ren and Nora, then? Would that be fun?</p>
<p>It didn't sound fun. Not at all. And neither did sitting on Yang's shoulder as a ghost while they traversed the streets of Vale.</p>
<p>The only appealing thing she could think of was Weiss, and just being in the same room as her. There was a pull she could feel. Ruby hadn't been thinking much of it, just assuming it had to do with the whole ghost thing. If Weiss was the only one able to perceive her, then of course there would be a pull. The two had to share some sort of connection.</p>
<p>Or maybe it really was just because Weiss was a Schnee. But Ruby didn't want to think something so superficial was the key to her existence.</p>
<p>So that was how Ruby ended up making her way towards the Vale mine.</p>
<p>She was just sort of drifting off in the general direction, her directional memory coming from the car ride she had with the man coupled with her first time following Weiss there.</p>
<p>A horrifying though had struck her, though: Did she even exist?</p>
<p>Was Ruby a real being that existed in the world they lived in? It was a thought that Ruby assumed the answer to, but what if the afterlife was as simple as forever being doomed to loneliness and... uh... <em>ghostliness.</em></p>
<p>Would she never eat cookies again? Or build things again? Or fire guns again? Or play board games again? Or get crushed by Blake in Monopoly, who was suspiciously always able to put hotels on Park Place and the Boardwalk within the first twenty minutes of the game?</p>
<p>If Ruby hadn't been consumed with despair before, she was now, and everything felt pointless.</p>
<p>The only shining beacon left was Weiss, who was probably expecting Ruby to return some time or another. Ruby couldn't let her down, not after the latter had devoted so much time and thought power into whatever Ruby's problem could be.</p>
<p>Yeah, Ruby was indebted to the kind, generous soul that was Weiss Schnee. She may have been steely and crass when first seeing Ruby, but that was because Ruby was trespassing! Weiss controlled the mine now and was looking to make it the best she could, so of course she would be protective.</p>
<p>The sense of duty, the power, the generosity and sophistication! Ruby knew that Weiss would have all the answers.</p>
<p>Ruby let the grandiose thoughts slip past her as she resolved to regard Weiss unbiasedly for a moment. The woman was insanely busy, being the Schnee Dust Company heiress AND having to work a whole mine. She was a little prickly, but prickly in the way that a pineapple is prickly unless you've got an affinity for them. And Ruby sure had an affinity.</p>
<p>In spite of Weiss' truest efforts to come across as a raging no-nonsense meanie, Ruby could see right through it. She had a heart of gold.</p>
<p>When Ruby rounded to the mine, she slipped through the main gates beyond the tollbooth and ended up in what seemed like a courtyard. It was surrounded by a large, wooden fence and was furnished with tables, a basketball court, and bathrooms in the corner.</p>
<p>People were bustling through with plates and trays, sitting down and chatting amongst each other. There weren't as many laughs as Ruby was used to, but they seemed lively enough.</p>
<p>Ruby headed further in and spotted some people in white, SDC-emblazoned uniforms holding taser sticks. They were standing perfectly still, but their eyes were in constant motion. They were staring at the people hanging out.</p>
<p>
  <em>The miners.</em>
</p>
<p>"I heard that Big Aliq isn't the showrunner of this mine anymore," a miner said. Ruby sailed to him and stood at the foot of the table, interested in what they had to say. They were all faunus, two with bear ears, one with webbed fingers, and another with a thick alligator tail that was slumped on the floor.</p>
<p>"Oh yeah, Rich?” one of the bear-eared faunus said. "I wanna say thank the Gods, but knowing the SDC, they prolly let him go for bein' too easy."</p>
<p>"Easy!" gasped the one with the tail. "Big Aliq threatened to scale me!" The other faunus laughed. With a smile, he kept speaking. But he didn't sound too friendly as his expression may seem. It made Ruby shiver. "He was probably replaced with a bigger, meaner, fatter old man from Atlas who is itching to experiment on us!"</p>
<p>Ruby expected cries or gasps, but she was only met with more laughter from the table. Why were they joking about something like that? This was serious! Big Aliq sounded like a terrible person, one that deserved to be fired.</p>
<p>Weiss was the new showrunner that these faunus were talking about, then. She wasn't bigger, meaner, and certainly not fatter than anyone! </p>
<p>Ruby felt a surge of righteousness flow through her. Weiss would show all of them that she was here to help and renew the mine. With her kindness, they'd all come to respect her like she deserved.</p>
<p>"I mean, the new boss told those bozos to stop prowling around the courtyard like they're on a hunt or something." The webbed-finger faunus pointed a thumb at the SDC guard who was standing idly in the corner with his shockstick. "But it's probably just for show. I mean, why let them keep those sticks like we're some prisoners?"</p>
<p>"That's total bull-fucking-shit, Cyrian," the first bear-eared faunus, who had been called Rich, said. "I bet he's—"</p>
<p>"It's the heiress, actually," a new voice chimed in. Ruby flung around to see another miner, this one without any visible faunus traits on him. He was holding a bag of chips and slipped into an empty spot at the table. "The Schnee heiress, I mean."</p>
<p>Ruby was happy someone was here who seemed to know her. Before the pride could come, Rich let out a hearty laugh.</p>
<p>"That's just golden!" He slapped the new miner's back. "Who'd you hear that from, Flavo?"</p>
<p>"One of the guards was talking about it, I just asked."</p>
<p>"Thanks for using her human privilege to feed us lowlives the juicy details!" the other bear joked. "...but is that really true?"</p>
<p>"It is," Flavo said again. "She just got here recently, and apparently was told to turn the mine around for a larger profit in some amount of time or she'll be like, disowned or something."</p>
<p>Ruby quirked an eyebrow. Was that how it happened? That seemed pretty extreme, especially for someone as young as Weiss.</p>
<p>"Damnit," the alligator-tailed faunus groaned. "She was told to turn a profit, huh? That means lessening the quality of our food."</p>
<p>"...and probably paying us less."</p>
<p>"...and getting newer, suckier equipment."</p>
<p>Ruby slammed her fists on the table as if it would matter. She was upset at how ignorant these people seemed to be, because clearly they didn't know how amazing Weiss was. She wouldn't dare sacrifice those things...</p>
<p>"How about shutting the fuck up and eating your damn food like you're supposed to during your lunch period?" someone new said.</p>
<p>This time, it was one of the guards, and his finger was right on the trigger of his shockstick. </p>
<p>Ruby stumbled back and watched the faunus' and the human's eyes widened.</p>
<p>"W-What the hell, man?" Cyrian, the webbed-finger faunus, said. "We're just eating and talking."</p>
<p>"Talking shit about the person who's giving you a job, housing, and food." The guard flicked the power on the shockstick to look intimidating. Ruby was shaking her head, worried at the sudden tension that grappled everyone in the yard.</p>
<p>"You ain't allowed to be moving around on us like that, old man," Rich snarled. "New rules."</p>
<p>"Think I give a shit about the new rules? I'd been working under Big Aliq for six years now, and you know what? I betcha the heiress wants me to beat the shit out of you for being so disrespectful. She's given up a lot to help out you charity cases."</p>
<p>Ruby gawked as her ears rang. Anger was mixing with confusion and disbelief at how everyone was talking.</p>
<p>Ruby was no fool, she knew that faunus were horribly mistreated especially at the mines, and clearly Big Aliq was just another bigot to add to the list. But they were talking about Weiss like she was the same! Like she'd revel in the violence inflicted upon the faunus by her own guards, and would throw her own miners under the bus to make more money.</p>
<p>"You're nuts to think the Schnees would be on your side. YOUR SIDE! Ha! Filthy faunus such as yourself. I oughtta blast your asses just so Ms. Schnee would give me a raise."</p>
<p>Rich, Flavo, Cyrian, and the alligator faunus all narrowed their eyes but refused to speak. Everyone else in the yard had gone dead silent as well.</p>
<p>As much as Ruby felt these people were wrong, they would know more than her. They experienced the Schnee ruling hand directly, and this guard was obviously familiar with them. </p>
<p>He lowered the shockstick and frowned. "Weiss Schnee is the new boss of this place, and she sure as hell hates y'all. Prepare for it, you animals. I've met with her personally, and while she may have told us not to hunt around during the lunch period, she's got other plans in store. Be warned."</p>
<p>When the guard left, none of the faunus uttered another word.</p>
<p>Ruby stuck around to hear the alligator faunus' name, which was Khrys, so that maybe later she could bring it up with Weiss.</p>
<p>Ruby's plan, which was to check up on Weiss and see where things were at, was suddenly way too anxiety-inducing. There was this image of Weiss in her head, who was bigger and towered over everyone, sending people to their knees with the flick of her finger.</p>
<p>She was a businesswoman, and did that mean she would almost be forced to make conditions worse for the miners and faunus in order to make more money? Was that how it worked?</p>
<p>No, Ruby refused to go see her. Instead, she headed on back to the place where she felt the most comfort, and that was her own bedroom.</p>
<p>Thoughts and false realities swarmed her vision. She pushed them down, albeit regretfully, and made her way home with a clear mind.</p>
<p>Yang and Blake were gone, probably still talking to people. Ruby plopped herself down on her bed and found it impossible to fall asleep.</p>
<p>It took a long, long, time... but eventually some form of ghostly sleep was able to overcome her.</p>
<p>Her final thoughts were chastising herself for daring to second guess Weiss, who had agreed to help Ruby despite not even knowing her. Ruby knew in her gut that Weiss was good...</p>
<p>...and everyone knew that Ruby's gut feelings were always correct.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Kudos...? Maybe? Also thanks for your guys' nice comments, it's really getting me through it &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Your Presence Honors Me</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When Weiss had been notified that she was to attend an impromptu meeting with her father over video chat, she couldn't help but feel a sense of impending doom.</p>
<p>She had only been working at the mine for a little over a week, and was still just finishing up the final paperwork and laying down new general ground rules for the workers and staff. So far, she felt like she had gotten a lot done.</p>
<p>Or, had she really?</p>
<p>Most of the changes she made were ethical, like telling the yard guards not to walk around and invade upon the miners during their break periods. She also lessened the voltage on the shocksticks (which was paving the way to get rid of them entirely, though she would have to start slowly for those. The bigoted guards were far too prideful to let that one go so easily).</p>
<p>She had also put in an order for better helmets, which ended up losing her quite a large sum of money.</p>
<p>A gust of air left her nose as she leaned back in her seat. Her office was chilly as usual, and Weiss couldn't help but glance around her every so often, thinking she'd see a sort of glowing persona of a certain ghost she'd grown to spend a lot of time on.</p>
<p>Yes, it was true that Weiss had been devoting an ample amount of time to researching what Ruby's problem could be. It had been around nine days since they met now, and Weiss may even dare say that more time was spent researching that little predicament than turning the mine around.</p>
<p>It was a problem. She was just so invested.</p>
<p>Schnees were all-powerful and all-knowing in the magic world. It was something Weiss prided herself in greatly, so how could she not have ever seen something like Ruby's case before? Or even read about it? No tutor ever mentioned something remotely similar to this before. It irked her, and she felt useless. She felt like she wasn't the best.</p>
<p>...which of course, caused her weekly report to be one day late. </p>
<p>She shivered. <em>Was that what father wished to speak to me about?</em></p>
<p>If so, then she better spend some time bracing herself. Her father's verbal lashings were nothing to scoff at, and more often than not he went for low blows. </p>
<p>
  <em>"And I had to hear from Sir Naran that you just... DROPPED your rapier during a match?"</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Weiss looked down. She may have only been eleven years old, but the world sat upon her shoulders as if she were the god Atlas. Anything short of perfection was despicable, it was gross, it made her unworthy. And Jacques Schnee made sure she always knew that.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"Well? Speak!"</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"I did," she said softly. "It was a mistake, it won't happen again."</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"You lost," Jacques snarled, getting closer. "That was a real match, and you lost. My name was plastered all over the tents and entrance of the stadium, and you dropped your sword!" His hands flew to his hair but he quickly brought them down. His shoulders were bobbling in a rage that Weiss had grown quite accustomed to.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"Your lessons will be doubled in length."</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"Yes, father."</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"You will forgo singing until you've rematched that god forsaken opponent who beat you."</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Weiss frowned. Singing was her only escape, something she actually enjoyed doing, alongside piano. But she was never able to speak up about her interests before, and with her father so angry, she couldn't do it now. So she gave up and simply responded, "Yes, father."</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"I will lock the grand piano until you've mastered the grip technique Sir Naran has been trying to teach you."</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"...okay."</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Jacques spared no time before he turned on his heel and strode down the hall, away from Weiss' room where he had confronted her to punish her for her mistakes.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her younger brother, Whitley, peeking out of the door of his own room. He was only six, and he appeared to be shaking in his boots.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Weiss, who always felt the urge to comfort him, was too distraught at losing her singing privileges and losing possession of her piano. With a frown, she entered her own room and slammed the door shut with a bang.</em>
</p>
<p>Weiss sighed. He wasn't around anymore to take anything away, but he would probably call her a waste of space. Someone not worthy of the Schnee name, and a bunch of other nonsense. Yes, it was true that Weiss had really grown to hate her father.</p>
<p>And her plan was to destroy him by using the Vale mine. She was going to increase profit and productivity in exactly the opposite way he had been doing so with all of the other mines. She wouldn't jeopardize the miners' and faunus' safety, instead, she'd make it a better place to work.</p>
<p>But those plans were ambitious, and Weiss had barely spent time figuring out exactly how she was going to do it because she was putting too much brain power into Rub—</p>
<p>Her computer began playing the ringtone for her father calling, a screeching sound that made Weiss want to curl up and shove cotton in her ears.</p>
<p>She gathered herself and plastered on her best neutral expression before answering.</p>
<p>"Father, what was it you wished to speak to me about?" She wasted no time with pointless greetings, which her father said were meaningless and only served to waste time.</p>
<p>Jacques' face was as cruel as ever. "Your report was late." Weiss opened her mouth but her father interjected, "Exactly what could have preoccupied your time that such an important report was not delivered to me?"</p>
<p>Weiss wondered if he was genuinely asking that question. Did he already know the answer? The slimy tone of voice implied that he did, but he usually sounded like that. Does she respond politely? Or should she defend herself?</p>
<p>The mind games never ceased to exhaust her.</p>
<p>"I was laying out the groundwork for better safety precautions. The Vale mine was in less-than-optimal shape when I arrived, and the extra work was something I had not foreseen—"</p>
<p>"Is it too much for you?" Jacques said in a faux baby voice, as if he were mocking her. "Damnit, girl, it's a single mine! And not even one of the more important ones! I entrusted it to you, as a Schnee with my blood running through you, to be able to get things done and you have already failed me! In nine days you have failed the entire company."</p>
<p>"I was—"</p>
<p>"Shut your mouth," he sneered. "You were <em>what</em>, researching <em>ghosts</em>? Yes, Weiss, I can see everything that your computer has been logging. You've been spending hours on top of hours looking at stupid photos and reading pointless, ancient texts! None of that is useful! You already know what is necessary to use magic to bend people to your will, it's over with."</p>
<p>Weiss disagreed, since there was always more to learn, especially now that she had seen Ruby.</p>
<p>"I am always looking to be better," Weiss said. It felt like the Schnee thing to say, and she was rather happy with it, but it was exactly the wrong response.</p>
<p>Jacques' eyes flared as he leaned back.</p>
<p>"You will never be better," he put forth bluntly. "You are an immature little girl who has thrashed the faith I put into her. All of your lessons, all of the resources and time I spent into making sure you turned out right, failed because of your own self-destructive whims."</p>
<p>Underneath her desk, Weiss' fists clenched. Her computer had never looked so smashable before right this very moment.</p>
<p>"You have one more chance," the man said lowly. "I expect your reports to be on time, I expect nothing but business work to be done on that computer which, may I remind you, <em>I bought</em>. If I catch you doing god knows what, Weiss, I swear everything will be ripped from your hands, while I watch you cry and beg for it all to come back."</p>
<p>There was silence, and Weiss had no idea if she was supposed to say anything.</p>
<p>Luckily she didn't have to, because Jacques just ended the call right there.</p>
<p>Letting out a sigh of relief, she slouched in her chair and pounded her fist on her desk. Her eyes were feeling heavy, but she lifted her head anyway and stormed from her office.</p>
<p>She hadn't cried since she was twelve, and her father had hit her more than just a slap on the cheek. He had done it twice, and his ring caught onto her jawline, causing greater pain to her and what seemed like more pleasure from Jacques.</p>
<p>That was the last time she ever cried, and now she was twenty-six. She refused to start now.</p>
<p>As she rushed to the housing unit on the mine that she was staying at for the time being, she forced images of Ruby out of her head. The phenomenon was so baffling, and Weiss' born curiosity was ravaging her, but her father was right. This mine was a gift and a test, and god help her if she failed again.</p>
<p>No more would she spend such copious amounts of time trying to help that girl who could barely even help herself.</p>
<p>Weiss felt sorry for her. She was so hopeless, flaunting around in her ghostly form while being able to do nothing. She seemed clueless, too. </p>
<p>
  <em>I pity the girl, who was cursed to have a woman such as myself as her only form of saving.</em>
</p>
<p>It really was Ruby's greatest fault, having just Weiss as the one who can help her. Weiss was many things, but generous was not one of them. She was self-serving and cruel, just looking to be the best and preserve her own safety. Even all of the upgrades she'd been looking to make for the faunus workers was just to piss off her father.</p>
<p>Once she was in her housing unit she ruffled through her closet and threw on some clothes. She went for a long, white trench coat and sunhat, complete with a pair of sunglasses. She popped the collar on the jacket to cover her hair as much as possible.</p>
<p>In Atlas, she was adored. In Vale, however, her existence may not be as happy of a reception. Her disguise seemed to be good enough, especially since the trenchcoat was one of her only clothing items that was not branded with the Schnee family crest.</p>
<p><em>How egomaniacal</em>, she thought.</p>
<p>She slipped out of her home, scanned her ID card at the tollbooth, and flagged down one of the many cars that were on standby for herself and the higher-up staff members.</p>
<p>Her emotions were raging, but it was nothing that some retail therapy couldn't fix. </p>
<p>Weiss just wanted to get out, get some fresh air and be someone else for a change. She wanted to eat a bagel and chuckle at awkward waiters and act as if she wasn't lifting the Schnee Dust Company's legacy with her own two hands.</p>
<p>"Where to, miss?"</p>
<p>Should she go to Uppercrust? No, last time she went she was apparently stalked by a ghost.</p>
<p>Did she dare risk her intelligence and ask the driver for his own opinion? "I am slightly unfamiliar with this area of Vale," Weiss opted to say. "Do you know of any fun cafes?"</p>
<p>Weiss could see the small smile on the driver's face through the rear view window. </p>
<p>"Of course I do. We'll be there in thirty minutes."</p>
<p>-------</p>
<p>
  <em>Polendina's.</em>
</p>
<p>The café was pretty sizable for her driver having gone on about it being quaint, cute, and run by the kindest guy in the world. </p>
<p>She slipped out of her car, thanked her driver, and popped her collar a bit higher. She slid her sunglasses back on her face and hunched in slightly. If her father were nearby, he'd give her a whack on the back to straighten her up. However, this was necessary.</p>
<p>Valians were a little less enthusiastic about the Schnee legacy than Atlesians, but she also just wished to be someone else for a change.</p>
<p>She entered the café. A few people were chatting at tables, but for the most part it was perfectly quiet.</p>
<p>Weiss spotted a table in the corner that she set her sights on, but first she went up to the counter and was greeted by a girl around her age with short, orange hair.</p>
<p>"Welcome in, friend!" she cheered. She smiled so widely that her eyes shut as she kept talking. "Ah! Are you new? I have not seen your face around here before."</p>
<p>Weiss sighed. Couldn't she just order a bagel and leave without having to make mindless conversation?</p>
<p>"I just moved," she mumbled. "I'll take a—"</p>
<p>"Oh it is just so wonderful here in Vale, you will love it!" the girl laughed. "I have made so many new friends since I just moved, so I have no doubt you can do the same."</p>
<p>The white-haired girl's eye twitched. She had no idea how to continue this conversation. Was this girl even supposed to keep talking? Wouldn't they lose business? Weiss felt that she would not be shocked if this cafe, although pretty cozy, went out of business within the next few months.</p>
<p>So with great effort, she ended up saying, "I'm sure. The company that this place keeps is indeed, rather<em> lively</em>."</p>
<p>The girl behind the counter shot out her hand. "My name is Penny!"</p>
<p>Weiss shook her hand but then cringed at the fact that those same hands may be the ones making her bagel and brewing her coffee. Weiss doubted that... Penny... washed her hands in between each customer, too. Would the coffee be filled with the dirt and grime of every customer before her?</p>
<p>Before Weiss could quickly spit her order, a flash of red caught the corner of her vision.</p>
<p>Something rubbed against her back and as a shiver went down her spine, she flung herself around and became face-to-face with the girl who had plagued her psyche in recent days.</p>
<p>"Ruby?!"</p>
<p>"Weiss!"</p>
<p>"...Friend...?"</p>
<p>Stiffening, Weiss turned back to Penny, who was looking at the girl in confusion. "A-A bagel, please, everything on it. And a large vanilla latte. I'll be... over there...?" And then she quickly scurried to the table that she saw as she walked in.</p>
<p>Weiss could feel the ghost girl following her, and so when Weiss sat down she slid further in her seat as a blush crept up her face.</p>
<p>What was Ruby doing here?</p>
<p>And furthermore, Weiss had just made a fool of herself by shouting Ruby's name in a public place, <em>where of course no one can see her.</em></p>
<p>Ruby took a seat across from Weiss and leaned back with a grand smile on her face.</p>
<p>"I've been thinking about you!" she said happily. "It's been a while, and I've wanted to come back and check up on things but you're kinda scary, and I didn't think you'd like it, but we're a team now!"</p>
<p>"Mhm..." Weiss hummed. She picked up a magazine and began to flip through it. Obviously she wasn't reading anything, because she was focused on the red cloak of <em>Ruby Rose</em> and what to do now. </p>
<p>"I do not think you are dead," Weiss quickly said in a hushed whisper.</p>
<p>Ruby tilted her head, not unlike the way a dog does.</p>
<p>"I've been researching a little. Even in magic, it's impossible for the dead to come back to life in any capacity."</p>
<p>Ruby opened her mouth to speak, but quickly shut it and pointed to something behind Weiss.</p>
<p>"Your bagel and latte." The chirpy girl from before, Penny, put her stuff down. But she seemed a little bashful this time. </p>
<p>"Thank you."</p>
<p>She stayed standing there for a few seconds, twiddling her thumbs.</p>
<p>"I think she needs something," Ruby pointed out.</p>
<p>Weiss bit. "Do you need something?"</p>
<p>Penny's eyebrows shot up as if she'd been caught loitering around, even though she was standing right in front of Weiss' table. "Oh! Oh, yes." She paused. "You had screamed something earlier, you said, 'Ruby!' and I just... it reminded me of a friend of mine."</p>
<p>Weiss narrowed her eyes at Ruby who was still smiling, sitting across the table. Ruby gave a small shrug and said softly, "Penny's my friend. That's why I'm here, just to watch over them all."</p>
<p>"Yes, well—" Weiss really had no idea where to go from here, "—I would like to eat now, in private, if you do not mind."</p>
<p>Penny jolted back to life and, with a quick salute, ran back to her station.</p>
<p>
  <em>Great. She probably heard me talking and thinks I'm a total lunatic. Or some other friend of Ruby's.</em>
</p>
<p>When Weiss looked back at the ghost, she decided in her head that she certainly would never become this girl's friend. She was simply in pursuit of more knowledge to add to her already extensive mental bank. That was all.</p>
<p>"I really did want to thank you for doing this for me," Ruby began speaking. "It means so, so much. I can tell you're a really awesome person, and I'm kind of excited to work with you."</p>
<p>While it seemed like there was more on Ruby's mind, Weiss let it go. She didn't want to interact with Ruby more than she had to, lest her father rein down hellfire on her for slacking in her duties.</p>
<p>The Vale mine was going to be a lot of work, and required a lot of time that she simply didn't have. Especially now with this ghost taking up half of her brain power. It was an enigma, and one that she was interested in figuring out.</p>
<p>"Try the bagel!" Ruby suddenly cheered. "It's the best in Vale, I helped Penny's dad perfect the recipe, actually. Yang was there, too, since she loves to bake, but I was there for moral support!"</p>
<p>It was almost as if Weiss could see her hopes of having a peaceful snack making a mad dash for the exit.</p>
<p>"Gosh, I miss Yang. She's my sister, by the way. Super cool, I bet she'd win an award for being the best sister or something. She's engaged to this girl named Blake, who's almost like my second Mom, but a whole lot cooler. She's a faunus, so she's got epic hearing which means I can't get away with much sneaking around or anything..."</p>
<p>"This bagel would be better if there was less chatter around the café," Weiss mused to herself. "I suppose some things can't be helped."</p>
<p>A silence ensued, and Weiss thought maybe her comment had worked, but when Ruby started talking again she internally groaned.</p>
<p>"O-Oh! I just realized! You can talk to people and stuff. Oh jeez, Weiss, could you do me the biggest favor ever and talk to Yang? Let her know I'm here?"</p>
<p>
  <em>More things for me to do?</em>
</p>
<p>"No."</p>
<p>"No?"</p>
<p>Weiss took another bite of her bagel rather slowly, embarrassed by eating in the company of someone looking at her so plainly. "I am busy."</p>
<p>"Oh. Of course."</p>
<p>Weiss watched Ruby's legs kick back and forth anxiously, and it sort of put the white-haired girl on edge as well.</p>
<p>Something inside of her chest hurt a little. She was staring at the ghost girl, and wondering how hard it would be if she could not be seen or heard by anyone, and the only person who could be someone as cold and lifeless as Weiss Schnee. Even Weiss herself would not subject someone to such punishment.</p>
<p>If she really was Ruby's only hope, then the latter may very well just be dead entirely.</p>
<p>With a snort, Weiss finished off her bagel and stood to leave. Ruby was hot on her tail, ready to follow her anywhere.</p>
<p>"Perhaps tomorrow I can fit a chat with her in my schedule," Weiss mumbled, careful to make sure no one could hear her.</p>
<p>Ruby, who already emitted some odd kind of light, seemed to beam brighter at Weiss' proposal. She flung herself into the heiress for a hug, which Weiss could actually feel, which sent her tumbling to the ground ungracefully. The latte in her hand flew a few feet in front of them and splattered all over the floor.</p>
<p>"Agh!"</p>
<p>"OhmygoshI'msosorry!!" Ruby squealed. "I was just so excited—"</p>
<p>"Oh no!" another voice called, and Weiss looked up to see Penny. "Are you alright?"</p>
<p>Weiss finally got back to her feet and placed a hand on her head. She looked at Ruby with all the rage she could possibly muster and gritted, "Perfect."</p>
<p>"I can get you another latte!"</p>
<p>"You can <em>get</em> away from me," Weiss hissed, heading for the door. She was talking mostly to Ruby, but realized that her words went straight into Penny's ears. She was clearly affected, because the orange-haired girl's lips began to tremble. </p>
<p>With a sigh, Weiss fished into her purse and slapped a few twenty-dollar bills in Penny's hand.</p>
<p>"Thank you, the bagel was delicious."</p>
<p>Then she was out the door in a flash, earning confused looks from the customers and an even more confused look from her driver.</p>
<p>When slid in her seat and groaned again when Ruby hopped in next to her.</p>
<p>"I really am sorry!" Ruby said. Weiss remained silent as the car went into motion. "I was so happy, because I sort of... hung out at the Vale mine and heard all kinds of things about you and stuff."</p>
<p>Weiss wished she was more surprised, but she was sure the things were bad. After all, all she had in Vale was her father's reputation. She'd never operated a mine before, but that was going to change.</p>
<p>"They were all wrong, though! You are so kind and thoughtful, so willing to help people. That makes you different from everyone before you."</p>
<p>
  <em>You don't even know me.</em>
</p>
<p>"To the mine, miss?" the driver asked as they approached the intersection.</p>
<p>Weiss checked her watch. It was getting pretty late, and though Weiss would have rather Ruby didn't know where she was staying for the time being, she decided to just let the driver take her to her apartment.</p>
<p>"Home."</p>
<p>"You have a house here?!"</p>
<p>Weiss shook her head.</p>
<p>"Apartment?"</p>
<p>She nodded.</p>
<p>"Awesome! I swear I won't be too much trouble. It'll be like I'm not even there." Ruby gave Weiss a little wink.</p>
<p>
  <em>Maybe you can actually not be there?</em>
</p>
<p>"Oh this will be great, and you already have a lead. That's awesome. We're kind of a super duo now, huh? Super Ghost Girl and Awesome Weiss. Aweissome... or something like that."</p>
<p>Weiss grumbled, earning the briefest of looks from the driver. She turned and stared back out her window and remained silent for the remainder of the ride. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for Ruby, who kept jabbering on about random things.</p>
<p>-------------</p>
<p>Weiss' apartment was barely even an apartment. Ruby swore it was just a penthouse stacked on top of other penthouses, or maybe even a mansion stacked like a Jenga tower. It was totally massive, and Ruby hadn't even known Vale had living quarters like this!</p>
<p>The driver was long gone, and Weiss was making her way inside, using her keycard to venture through various doors that Ruby concentrated on passing through with ease.</p>
<p>Even as a ghost she had a hard time keeping up with the swift, methodical way that Weiss moved around. She knew exactly where she wanted to go and made her way there with expert timing. She was as efficient as efficient does.</p>
<p>It made Ruby feel small, but in the way that pushed her to do better.</p>
<p>So she sped up and earned an eye roll from Weiss.</p>
<p>
  <em>Score! Acknowledgement!</em>
</p>
<p>Finally, once they were securely in the room, did Weiss begin speaking.</p>
<p>"Do not bother me."</p>
<p>Ruby opened her mouth to say something but Weiss lifted her hand. She slid into a desk against the wall, opened a drawer, and slipped out some papers.</p>
<p>"I have a few papers to look at."</p>
<p>"Can I look around?" Ruby asked, planting her feet in the ground. She was in someone else's home, and even more so, it was Weiss'. Was she able to just—</p>
<p>"I don't care, Ruby."</p>
<p>
  <em>That means yes!</em>
</p>
<p>Even with unlimited permission to snoop around, Ruby found herself not doing much of that. She could argue with herself and say that her lack of adventurous curiosity was because the apartment was rather sparse, with no color or decorations to speak of. She could say that the absence of unnecessary furniture, fancy soaps, or liveliness made the room too bleak for her taste. And while all of that was true, she was more just so enthralled by the white-haired woman sitting down quietly with a hand on her cheek, thumbing through paperwork.</p>
<p>Ruby sat down on the bed and focused to let herself come in contact with it. When she did, she mentally praised herself and got comfortable where she was.</p>
<p>Weiss really was something else. A little prickly, sure, but wise beyond her years. She was a hard worker, and most of all caring. She didn't even know Ruby, and yet welcomed her into her home.</p>
<p>Weiss basically said she wanted to be Ruby's friend.</p>
<p>Ruby closed her eyes and giggled at the thought. Her first major person, someone who focused on her and only her.</p>
<p>"...Ruby...?" Weiss' voice was soft, and when Ruby came to her senses, she saw that Weiss had swiveled around in her chair and was staring at the bed with a look on her face that was sort of like awe.</p>
<p>"A-Ah! Hi! Sorry, am I not allowed on the bed?" Ruby leapt off and sheepishly ruffled her hair. "Sorry, again. Haha, I don't really know what to do with myself."</p>
<p>"No, Ruby, not that..." Weiss stood and walked over to the side of the bed. Ruby took a place by her side and looked at where Weiss was staring.</p>
<p>And there, clear as day, was the impressment on the bedsheets of where Ruby had previously been sitting.</p>
<p>She was able to <em>interact with her surroundings.</em></p>
<p>"The bed!"</p>
<p>"...well this is definitely a good development."</p>
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